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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  145S0 

(716)872-4503 


:<^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVl/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notas  tachniquaa  at  bibliographiquas 


Th 
to 


Tha  Instituta  has  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  bast 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturas  of  this 
copy  which  may  ba  bibliographically  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagas  in  tha 
raproduction.  or  which  may  significantly  changa 
tha  usual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chackad  balow. 


□    Colourad  covars/ 
Couvartura  da  couleur 


I      I    Covars  damagad/ 


D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D. 
D 


n 


El 


Couvartura  endommagte 

Covars  rastorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  rastauria  at/ou  pallicuMa 

Covar  titia  missing/ 

La  titra  da  couvartura  manque 

Colourad  maps/ 

Cartas  giographiques  an  coulaur 

Colourad  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encra  da  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relit  avac  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  Mure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  la  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  la  texte. 
mais,  lorsque  cela  ttait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  itt  filmias. 


L'Institut  a  microfiimi  la  nr^illeur  exemplaira 
qu'il  lui  a  itt  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
da  cat  exemplaira  qui  sent  paut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite.  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mithoda  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 


I      I   Coloured  pages/ 


Pagea  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 


D 
[Z 
D 


Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurias  et/ou  pelliculAes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachettes  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtachdes 


r~7]    Showthrough/ 


Transparence 


I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Quality  inigale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplimentaire 


D 
D 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Mition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  ref limed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  Image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partlellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  una  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  M  filmdes  A  nouveau  de  fa^on  d 
obtenir  la  meiileure  image  possible. 


Th 
pa 
of 
fill 


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fir 
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Additionel  comments:/ 
Commentairas  suppiimentaires: 


Various  pagingt.  Wrinkled  pages  may  film  slightly  out  of  focus. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  fllm6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu6  ci-dessous. 


10X 


14X 


18X 


22X 


26X 


— n 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


r« 

dtails 
IS  du 
nodifier 
tr  une 
ilmage 


The  copy  filmed  here  hes  been  reproduced  thank* 
to  the  generotity  of: 

Bibiiothique  nationale  du  Quebec 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  beck  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  Impression. 


IS 


L'exemplaire  filmA  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
gAnirositA  de: 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Quebec 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  At4  reprodultes  avec  ie 
plus  grand  soln,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet*  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
fllmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sont  filmto  en  commenpant 
par  Ie  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustratlon,  soit  par  Ie  second 
plat,  salon  Ie  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  en  commenpant  par  la 
premlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustratlon  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  ^-^^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
dernlAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie 
cas:  Ie  symbols  — ►  signlfie  "A  SUIVRE",  Ie 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposurs  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmte  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  Ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  ciichi,  il  est  filmi  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  has,  en  prenant  Ie  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iliustrent  la  mAthode. 


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ST^TEMEJVT 


aaracTuio 


THE  EARL  OF  SELKIRK'S  SETTLEMENT 


IN 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


''Mifc«-M'»'..'.ct,«|||liptnw.mt*>u«te«l^, 


STATEMENT 


RESPECTING  TUB 


£AB,li  0¥  aEliT!llB.l!l'»  »ETT14E3«lEJ<T 


UPON 


€ge  Heti  tii\in  in  jHottg  9lmevica  5 


^•i-. 


ITS  DESTRUCTION  IN  1815  AND  1816; 


AND  THE 


MASSACRE  OF  GOVEHNOR  SEMPLE  AJ^D  HIS  PARTY. 


WITH 


OBSERVATIONS 


UPON  ▲  RECENT  PUBLICATION, 

ENTITLED, 
"  A  NARRATIVE  OF  OCCURRENCES  IN  THE  INDIAN  COUNTRIES,"  *«. 


»      t   ,   t     '  t 


J^EW-YORK  : 

PUBLISHED  BY  JAMES  EASTBURN  ft  CO* 
LITERARY  ROOMS,  BROADWAY. 


1818. 


73 


s 


*hJ 


CJii.<*JiSi, 


C.  S.  VAN  WINELR,  PRINTER, 
181  Greenwifli-itrect, 


i 


.  ,11%)  \MMmtt.~ 


'T'WjP'j^w^*^ 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


■  -.? 


Thb  Barl  of  Selkirk,  after  his  arrival  in 
Canada,  at  the  end  of  the  jear  1815,  trans- 
mitted, upon  various  occasions,  to  his  flriends 
in  England,  the  details  of  the  first  aggressions 
which  had  heen  instigated  against  the  Red 
River  Settlement,  and  the  dispersion  of  the 
settlers  in  the  preceding  summer.  He  also 
subsequently  furnished  them  with  the  par- 
ticulars and  evidence  which  had  been  collect- 
ed relative  to  the  second  destruction  of  that 
Colony,  in  the  following  year.  The  informa- 
tion thus  received  was  not  extended  beyond 
a  very  limited  circle  in  this  country  ;  but,  in 
consequence  of  the  repeated  misrepresenta- 
tions made  with  respect  to  the  occurrences 
which  had  taken  place  at  the  Red  River,  and 
the  numerous  reports,  raised  for  the  evident 
purpose  of  injuring  Lord  Selkirk's  character 
in  England,  his  friends,  at  lengtli,  thouglit  it 


99973 


VI 


1.1  \ 


advisable  to  select  from  the  documents  in  their 
possession,  such  materials  as  seemed  to  them 
best  calculated  to  remove  the  unjust  impres- 
sions ivhich  had  been  so  industriously  dissem- 
inated. With  this  view,  the  Statement  con- 
tained in  the  following  sheets  was,  some  time 
ago,  printed  and  circulated  among  Lord  Sel- 
kirk's personal  friends,  and  some  other  indivi- 
duals to  whom  it  was  thought  proper  to  com- 
municate the  facts  which  it  contained.  This 
measure  appeared  the  more  requisite,  be- 
cause printed  memorials  and  other  documents 
had  been  put  into  active  circulation  by  his 
opponents. 

In  adopting,  however,  even  this  limited 
step,  they  were  aware  that  Lord  Selkirk 
might  entertain  objections  to  what,  without 
his  knowledge  or  concuri'ence,  they  had  thus 
resolved  upon.  The  documents  he  had  trans- 
mitted were  only  intended  for  their  own  infor- 
mation :  but,  although  he  could  not  be  aware, 
that  those  by  whom  they  were  received  would 
give  them  any  degree  of  publicity,  they  took 
upon  themselves  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
appeared  best  calculated  to  protect  his  cha- 
racter in  his  absence. 

Shortly  after  the  Statement  had  been  thus 
circulated,  a  Pamphlet  was  published  in  Lon- 


*'^ 


ik%«ii^ 


vii 


limited 
Selkirk 
without 
ad  thus 
d  trans- 
n  infor- 
)  aware, 
d  would 
ey  took 
lures  as 
lis  cha- 

sn  thus 
in  Lon- 


c!>'-  ;& 


^:r 


don,  under  the  avowed  sanction  of  the  Agents 
of  the  North- West  Company  of  Montreal, 
entitled,  "  A  Narrative  of  Occurrences  in  the 
«*  Indian  Countries  of  North  America,"  etc, 
etc. — a  work  containing,  throughout  every 
part  of  it,  assertions  which  ought  not  to  he 
allowed  to  pass  unnoticed.  In  order,  there- 
fore, that  the  subject  may  be  more  generally 
understood,  the  Statement  has  been  re-printed 
with  the  addition  of  some  documents  and 
information  which  have  been  received  since 
its  former  circulation.  To  the  Statement  are 
also  subjoined  some  Observations*  upon  the 
"  Narrative  of  Occurrences,"  and  the  whole  is 
now  submitted  to  the  unbiassed  and  impartial 
consideration  of  the  public. 

The  subject  is  of  higher  consequence  than 
the  Reader  may  at  first  imagine.  It  includes 
the  important  question,  whether  extensive  and 
fertile  regions  in  British  North  America  are 
ever  to  become  inhabited  by  civilized  society ; 
or  whether  British  subjects,  who,  from  the 
increase  of  population  in  their  native  land,  or 
from  other  causes  of  a  public  nature,  are  in- 


*  For  these  Observations,  see  page  113. 


■»<*(»*iV«Fm- -■•-*,**■**■'■ 


vm 

duced  to  emigrate  to  Tarious  parts  of  our  fo- 
reign possessions  in  that  quarter,  are  to  be 
totally  deprived  of  the  protection  of  the  Mo- 
ther Country,  and  excluded  from  the  benefit 
of  the  British  Laws. 


If 


'ih 


London,  June,  1817. 


*y 


m 


i.'W>iiii..ii6i 


STATEMENT,  &c. 


V. 


I 
•I 


The  plans  of  colonization,  promoted  by  the  Earl 
of  Selkirk,  in  British  North  America,  have,  for  some 
time  past,  given  rise  to  much,  and  gross,  misrepre- 
sentation. More  than  common  pains  have  been 
taken,  by  his  opponents,  to  mislead,  and  to  prejudice 
the  public  ;  but  such  attempts,  when  the  opportunity 
for  strict  investigation  arrives,  can  have  no  other 
effect  than  to  recoil  upon  those  whose  studied  object 
has  been  to  calumniate  an  individual,  and  to  conceal 
the  truth.  It  has  become,  therefore,  extremely  de- 
sirable  that  the  real  circumstances  of  the  case  should 
be  better  understood,  and  that  the  true  nature,  and 
extent,  of  those  extraordinary  acts,  by  which  his 
plans  have  hitherto  been  thwarted,  should  be  clearly 
developed.  The  facts,  contained  in  the  following 
Statement,  cannot  fail  to  throw  much  light  upon  the 
subject  These  shall  be  submitted  as  concisely  as 
possible ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  appears  requisite 
to  trace  them  shortly  from  their  origin. 

B 


i*, 


.-.JMlf 


^f^f 


u 


•( 


-»,  t 


2 

In  doing  so  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  enter  upon 
the  general  subject  of  the  Emigrations  from  this 
country  to  North  America ;  or  the  views  which  led 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk  to  form  that  Settlement  which 
has  been  the  object  of  such  enmity  and  misrepresen- 
tation. His  Lordship's  sentiments  on  the  general 
question  of  emigration,  have  been  long  before  the 
public ;  and,  since  he  first  drew  its  attention,  in  the 
year  1805,  to  this  important  subject,  a  marked 
change  has  taken  place,  not  only  in  the  opinions  of 
many  of  those  who  then  disagreed  with  him,  but  also 
in  the  conduct  of  Government,  which  has,  of  late 
years,  afforded  every  reasonable  facility  for  the  con- 
veyance, to  our  own  colonies,  of  those  emigrants 
(chiefly  from  Ireland  and  Scotland)  who  were  but 
too  much  disposed  to  settle  in  the  United  States. 

The  Earl  of  Selkirk  having,  in  the  year  1811, 
obtained  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  a  grant 
of  land  within  the  territory  bestowed  upon  them  by 
their  Charter,  proceeded,  in  conformity  with  one  of 
the  principal  objects  of  the  conveyance,  to  establish 
agricultural  settlers  upon  the  lands  he  had  so  obtain- 
ed. The  right  to  the  soil,  as  vested  in  the  Company, 
and  the  legality  of  the  grant,  were  fully  supported 
by  the  opinions  of  several  of  the  most  eminent  coun- 
sel in  England — of  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  Mr.  (now 
Mr.  Justice)  Holroyd,  Mr.  Cruise,  Mr.  Scarlett,  and 
Mr.  Bell.*  His  Lordship  therefore  proceeded,  with- 
out delay,  to  make  the  requisite  arrangements  for 
the  proposed  settlement.     The  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 

*  For  these  Opinions,  see  Appendix,  [A.] 


■fi-'-'Vaiwif-"'— «Tifa;j{;;jfc|| 


iisrepreseii' 
the  general 

before  the 
ition,  in  the 

a  marked 
opinions  of 
iim,  but  also 
lias,  of  late 
for  the  con- 
!  emigrants 
>  were  but 
I  States, 
year  1811, 
ny,  a  grant 
on  them  by 
with  one  of 
to  establish 
i  so  obtain- 
I  Company, 

supported 
linent  coun- 

Mr.  (now 
:arlett,  and 
eded,  with- 
ements  for 
I  Bay  Com- 


■*',?! 


pany,  as  empowered  by  their  Charter  appointed  Mr* 
Miles  Macdoneil,  formerly  Captain  of  the  Queeh*i 
Rangers,  to  be  Governor  of  the  district  of  Osaini- 
boia,  within  which  the  Settlement  was  to  be  formed, 
and  the  same  gentleman  was  nominated,  by  Lord 
Selkirk,  to  superintend  the  colony,  and  take  charge 
of  the  settlers. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year,  (1812,)  Mr. 
Miles  Macdoneil,  with  a  small  party,  arrived  at  the 
spot  which  had  been  selected  for  the  Settlement* 
He  immediately  proceeded  to  erect  houses,  and  make 
every  necessary  preparation  for  the  arrival  of  the 
first  detachment  of  settlers,  which  was  soon  expected. 
The  situation  which  had  been  chosen  for  the  colony 
was  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  River,  (lat.  50^  North, 
long.  07^  West  of  London,)  about  forty  or  fifty  miles 
from  its  entrance  into  Lake  Winipic,  and  near  its 
confluence  with  the  Ossiniboyne  River.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1813,  the  settlement  consisted 
of  about  an  hundred  persons.  In  June,  1814,  they 
received  an  addition  of  fifty  more,  and  in  September 
following,  the  total  number  of  settlers,  and  labourers, 
amounted  to  about  two  hundred.  In  the  coiirse  of 
the  same  year,  between  eighty  and  ninety  additional 
emigrants,  from  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  arrived 
at  Hudson^s  Bay,  for  the  purpose  of  proceeding  to 
the  settlement,  having  been  induced  to  join  their 
friends  and  relations  at  Red  River,  from  the  favour- 
able accounts  which  the  latter  had  transmitted  to 
them,  of  the  lands  upon  which  they  were  settling, 
and  the  flattering  prospects  that  awaited  them. 
This  last  mentioned  party,  however,  did  not  arrive  at 


K.. 


.-.>sjr" 


^^i'' 


4 

the  Settlement  till  after  it  was  broken  up,  for  the 
first  time,  as  shall  be  noticed  in  the  sequel. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  Red  River  Settle- 
ment, until  the  winter  of  18  i  4-1 5,  and  the  following 
spring,  there  occurred  nothing  of  any  material  im- 
portance to  interrupt  the  progress  of  this  infant 
colony.*  The  difficulties  which  were,  in  some  de- 
gree, unavoidable  at  the  beginning  of  an  establish- 
ment of  that  nature,  were  happily  got  over.  The 
heads  of  families,  as  they  arrived,  were  put  in  posses- 
sion of  regular  lots  of  land,  which  they  immediately 
began  to  cultivate ;  houses  were  built ;  a  mill  was 
erected ;  sheep  and  cattle  were  sent  up  to  the  settle- 
ment ;  and'  all  practicable  means  were  taken  to  for- 
ward the  agricultural  purposes  of  the  colony.  The 
spot  which  had  been  selected  was  ascertained  to  be 
of  the  highest  fertility,  and  of  the  most  easy  cultiva- 
tion. Though  woods  abounded  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  plains  adjoining  the  Red  River,  containing  a 
variety  of  the  finest  timber,  yet  no  trees  were  required 
to  be  cut  down,  or  roots  to  be  cleared  away,  from 
the  lands  that  were  appropriated  to  husbandry.  The 
expensive  and  tedious  operation  of  clearing  away 
heavy  woods,  before  the  ground  can  be  tilled,  (a 
measure  indispensable  in  most  of  the  new  settlements 
in  North  America,)  was  totally  unnecessary  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Red  River  ;  the  plough,  from  the  first, 
met  with  no  obstruction,  and  the  soil  proved  in  the 


il     < 


*  It  was  named  the  KiUhnan  Settlement^  from  the  name  of  thr 
parish,  in  the  county  of  Sutherland,  whence  the  greater  part  of 
the  settlers  had  emigrated. 


'«;.• 


aiMtetefcii?iii:Mi 


up,  for  (h« 

iver  Settle- 
le  following 
laterial  im- 
this  infant 
n  some  de- 
1  establish- 
►ver.  The 
it  in  posses- 
nmediately 
a  mill  was 
>  the  settle- 
ken  to  for- 
ony.  The 
ained  to  be 
isy  cultiva- 
hbourhood 
>ntaining  a 
re  required 
way,  from 
ndry.  The 
ring  away 
tilled,  (a 
ttlements 
y  upon  the 
the  first, 
ved  in  the 


name  of  the 
iater  part  of 


'  »•& 


highest  degree  rich  and  productive. — ^The  climate 
had  long  been  ascertained  to  be  equal  to  that  of  any 
part  of  Canada,  and  with  less  snow  in  the  winter. 
The  river  abounded  with  fish,  the  extensive  plains 
with  bufialoe,and  the  woods  with  elk,  deer,  and  game. 
The  hunting  grounds  of  the  Indians  were  not  at  all 
interfered  with;  and,  by  the  terms  of  the  grant, 
both  the  grantee,  and  those  who  held  under  him  as 
settlers,  were  entirely  precluded  from  being  con- 
cerned in  the  fur  trade.     The  district,  indeed,  had 
already   been   almost  exhausted  of  those  animals, 
whose   furs  are   so   valuable.     The   neighbouring 
tribes  of  Indians  (the  Sautoux)  proved,  from  the  first, 
to  be  friendly  and  well-disposed.     Serious  attempts, 
indeed,  had  been  made,  as  early  as  the  spring  of  1 B 1 3, 
by  the  clerks  and  interpreters  employed  by  the  fur 
traders    from    Montreal,   to   instigate    the   natives 
against  the  settlers.     The  Indians  were  told  by  these 
persons  that  it  was  intended  to  deprive  them  of  their 
hunting  grounds,  and  that,  if  the  establishment  at 
the   Red  River  once  obtained  a  firm  footing,  the 
natives  would  be  made  slaves  of  by  the  colonists. — 
These  attempts  to  alienate  the  good  will  of  the 
natives  from  the  settlers  appeared,  at  first,  to  have  an 
alarming  effect,  producing  menaces,  and  jealousy,  on 
the  part  of  their  Indian   neighbours. — Mr.   Miles 
Macdonell,  the  governor  of  the  district,  soon  found 
means,  however,  of  doing  away  the  unfavourable 
impressions  which  had  been  raised.     He  held  con- 
ferences   with    the  Sautoux  tribes,  and   not   only 
succeeded  in  obtaining   the    continuance  of    their 
friendship,  but  also  the  promise  of  their  supreme  chief 


I 


tn*$ 


1 


ii 


to  encourage  the  Indiantt  of  Lake  La  Pluie  to  draw 
nearer  towards  the  Red  Riverf  for  the  purpose  of 
planting  Indian  corn,  and  establishing  villages. — 
From  thia  period  the  Indians  in  the  neighbourhood 
remained  upon  the  most  friendly  footing  with  the 
colonistSf  and  continued  to  the  last  without  inter- 
ruption. There  seemed,  therefore,  nothing  likely  to 
occur  which  would  impede  the  settlers  in  their  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  nor  were  they  themselves  appre- 
hensive of  any  molestation.  The  Earl  of  Selkirk,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  settlement,  had  sent  up 
some  light  brass  field-pieces,  swivels,  and  muskets, 
for  its  protection;  and  an  additional  quantity  of  arms 
and  ammunition,  which  had  been  furnished  by 
Government  for  the  defence  of  the  colony,  was  re- 
ceived there  in  the  summer  of  1814.  In  short,  the 
settlers  appeared  confident  of  their  security,  con- 
tent with  their  situation,  and  happy  in  their  prospects; 
nor  did  there  exist  any  reasonable  ground  to  doubt, 
that,  if  left  undisturbed,  the  colony,  in  a  few  years, 
would  have  been  completely  and  (irmly  established. 
This,  indeed,  must  have  been  the  decided  opinion, 
at  the  time,  even  of  those  who  proved  to  be  its  most 
inveterate  opponents,  otherwise  they  never  would 
have  thought  it  necessary  to  take  violent  means  to 
destroy  it.  Had  the  Settlement  been  likely  to  fail 
from  causes  inherent  in  its  nature,  or  arising  from 
the  remoteness  of  its  situation,  or  other  local  circum- 
stances, its  enemies  (and  none  were  better  judges  than 
they)  would,  doubtless,  have  left  it  to  its  fate ;  and, 
remaining  passive  spectators  of  its  destruction,  would 
gladly  have  permitted  the  colony  to  die  a  natural 


I 


death,  instead  of  incurring  anxiety,  expense,  and  the 
risk  of  the  vengeance  of  the  law,  bj  adopting  those 
active  measures  to  which  they  resorted,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  strangling  it  in  its  infancy.  By  the  enemies 
of  the  Red  River  coluny,  I  mean  the  North-West 
Company  of  Fur  Traders  at  Montreal,  whose  hos- 
tility to  the  settlement,  and  outrages  against  their 
feliow-subjects,  have  been  carried  to  a  pitch  so  dread- 
ful as  almost  to  surpass  belief.  It  may  be  proper, 
in  a  few  words,  to  trace  their  enmity  from  its  com- 
mencement* 

When  the  question  of  granting  to  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk  an  extensive  tract  of  land,  within  their  ter^ 
ritory,  was  first  agitated  by  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Com- 
pany, a  general  court  of  Proprietors  was  called 
for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  measure.  This 
meeting  was  held  in  May,  1811,  and,  in  order  to 
give  the  proprietors  a  further  opportunity  of  making 
themselves  fully  informed  of  the  nature  of  the  pro- 
posed measure,  an  adjournment  of  the  court  took 
place ;  notice,  in  the  mean  while,  being  given  to  all 
the  stockholders,  that  the  terms  of  the  proposed 
grant  were  left  at  the  Secretary's  office  for  their 
inspection.  At  the  adjourned  general  meeting,  the 
proposition  was  discussed  and  adopted.     A  Memo- 


*  Although  the  North- West  Fur  Traders  of  Montreal  com- 
monly go  by  the  name  of  a  Company,  they  are  not  a  chartered 
body.  An  account  of  the  origin  and  constiCution  of  this  powerful 
association  may  be  seen  in  a  pamphlet  lately  published  by  the 
Eart  of  Selkirk,  entitled,  "  a  Sketch  of  the  British  Fur  Trade 
in  North  America/'  &c.  itc. 


•  it 


I 


'ii^ 


8 

rial,  however,  or  Protest,  was  entered  against  the 
measure,  and  signed  bj  sii  of  the  proprietors.  In 
perusing  this  document,  a  superficial  observer  would 
have  been  led  to  conclude,  that  those  who  protested 
had  no  object  so  dear  to  them  as  the  welfare  and 
prosperity  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  They 
seemed,  with  the  most  friendly  attention,  to  warn  the 
Company  of  the  errors  into  which  they  were  falling, 
and  the  injuries  which  would  infallibly  accrue  to 
them  from  the  adoption  of  the  measure  in  question; 
above  all,  they  feelingly  regretted  that  those  emi- 
grant settlers,  who  might  eventually  be  established 
within  the  district  so  granted,  would  be  placed  **  out 
of  the  reach  of  all  those  aids  and  comforts  which 
are  derived  from  civil  society.'*  The  sincerity,  how- 
ever, of  these  regrets  could  not  fail  to  appear  dubious, 
when  the  signatures  of  the  protest  were  inspected. 
Of  the  six  who  signed  it,  three  were  persons  closely 
connected  with,  and  interested  in,  the  rival  com- 
mercial concerns  of  the  North-West  Company  of 
Montreal ;  and  two  of  the  three  were,  at  the  very 
time,  avowed  London  agents  to  that  Company. 
The  latter  had  only  become  proprietors  of  Hudson's 
Bay  stock  about  eight-and-forty  hours  before  the 
general  meeting  last  alluded  to.  They  were  not, 
indeed,  possessed  of  that  stock  long  enough  to  entitle 
them  to  give  any  vote  at  the  meeting ;  but  their  names 
being  now  entered  in  the  Company's  books,  though 
the  ink  was  scarcely  dry  with  which  they  were  insert- 
ed, a  right,  it  seems,  was  thereby  conveyed  to  them  to 
find  fault  with  every  thing  that  was  doing,  and  for- 


./^ 


0 


'im.*ilGEtG&^:. 


-'■fii'ii'iS!^"^'''-'"'"    f"  


against  th« 
trietors.     In 
Brver  would 
10  protested 
nrelfare  and 
my.    They 
to  warn  the 
vere  falling, 
J  accrue  to 
in  question; 
:  those  ami- 
established 
placed  **  out 
forts  which 
serity,  how- 
ear  dubious^ 
e  inspected, 
ions  closely 
rival  com- 
ompany  of 
at  the  very 
Company, 
f  Hudson^s 
before  the 
were  not, 
h  to  entitle 
heir  names 
cs,  though 
ere  insert- 
to  them  to 
and  for- 


M'^Ti 


:■•;.? 


mally  to  protest  against  measures  to  which  the  com- 
mittee of  Directors,  imanimously,  and  the  general 
court  of  Proprietors,  by  a  great  majority,  and  on  lull 
deliben^tion,  had  given  their  sanction.  As  far  as 
these  agents,  therefore,  were  concerned,  it  was  not 
very  unreasonable  to  view,  with  suspicion,  the  alle- 
ged grounds  of  their  Protest,  as  well  as  the  motives 
of  those  admonitions  which  it  purported  to  contain. 
Their  object,  indeed,  in  making  the  purchase,  could 
scarcely  be  mistaken;  and,  however  circuitous  the 
proceeding  might  be,  it  was  evident  that  they  had 
thus  become  proprietors  of  one  commercial  Compa- 
ny, for  the  indirect  purpose  of  benefitting  another, 
and  a  rival,  establishment. 

With  regard  to  the  grounds  of  this  protest,  as  af- 
fecting the  subject  of  the  grant  to  the  Earl  of  Sel- 
kirk, it  would  be  an  idle  task  to  notice  the  geogra- 
phical, and  other  blunders,  with  which  it  abounded. 
Had  the  whole  matter  of  it  indeed  been  confined  to 
that  single  assertion,  in  which  the  protesters  observe, 
**  Besides,  it  has  been  found,  that  colonization  is  at 
all  times  unfavourable  to  the  fur  trade" — it  would 
have  disclosed  at  once,  and  in  substance,  the  true 
cause  of  their  alarm.  This  apprehension,  with  re- 
spect to  the  effect  which  colonization  might  produce 
upon  their  trade,  formed  the  ground  of  that  hostili- 
ty, which,  even  then,  became  apparent  towards  the 
proposed  Settlement;  and,  we  shall  see  that  the 
North- West  Fur  Traders  of  Montreal  did  take  ef- 
fectual measures,  from  the  time  of  this  protest,  not 
only  to  keep  all  agricultural  settlers  in  Obsiniboia, 

0 


% 


^^i 


;.        \ 


I 


**  out  of  the  reach  of  those  aidi  and  comforts  which 
are  derired  from  civil  society,"  but  that  manj  of 
them  aAerwards  entered  into  a  regular  combinationf 
for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  the  colonists,  and  de- 
stroying everj  vestige  of  the  settlement. 

The  plans  adopted  for  this  scheme  of  destruction, 
appear  to  have  been  arranged  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  North-West  Company^s  partners,  in  the 
summer  of  1814,  at  their  trading  post,  called  Fort 
William,  on  Lake  Superior.*  Information  had,  in 
the  course  of  that  season,  been  transmitted  to  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk,  (but  which  he  did  not  receive  till  the 
beginning  of  the  following  year,)  that  serious  appre- 
hensions were  entertained  of  hostility  from  the  na- 
tives, and  that  the  Indians  were  likely  to  make  an 
attack  upon  the  Settlement.  This  information  came 
from  a  person  whose  veracity  was  ubove  suspicion; 
and  who,  although  holding  an  interest  in  the  con- 
cerns of  the  North- West  Company,  had,  much  to  his 
honour,  determined  not  to  conceal  the  opinion  he 
entertained  on  the  subject.  The  suspicions,  how- 
ever, which  had  arisen  with  respect  to  hostility  from 
the  Indians,  proved,  in  result,  unfounded.  The  at- 
tack came  from  another,  but  not  less  savage  descrip- 
tion of  enemies. 

Among  the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company, 
who  received  their  instructions  from  the  general  an- 


.:    -If 


*  In  general,  the  houses,  or  trading  posts,  in  the  interior  of 
the  Indian  country,  and  also  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories, 
are  termed  Ford,  being  usually  surrounded  with  stockades  for 
security. 


1  t^tmm  ■  IA,.W 


11 


f 


Bual  meeting  at  Fort  William,  in  the  lummer  of  18I4| 
were  a  Mr.  Duncan  Camel un,  and  Mr.  Alexander 
M^Donell;  and  these  0^>pear  to  havft  been  the  per^ 
•oni  aelected  by  the  partuerihip,  to  superiiitand,  and 
execute,  the  plans  entered  into  against  the  Red  Ri- 
ver colony.  Upon  the  dth  of  August,  in  that  year,  tha 
latter  writes  to  his  iVierid  at  Montreal,  (also  a  partner 
of  the  Company,)  from  one  of  the  portages  lying  be- 
tween Lake  Superior,  and  the  plare  of  his  winter  des* 
tination  in  the  interior,  and  to  which  ho  was  then 
proceeding.  This  letter,  written  and  signed  by  Mr. 
Alexander  M^Donell,  contains  the  following  passage, 
which  speaks  a  language  that  cannot  1)6  misunder^ 
stood  :  **  You  see  myself,  and  our  mutual  friend,  Mr. 
Cameron,  so  far  on  our  way  to  commence  open  hos* 
tilities  against  the  enemy  in  Red  River.  Much  is  ex- 
pected from  us,  if  we  believe  some — perhaps  too 
much.  One  thing  certain,  that  we  will  do  our  best 
to  defend,  what  we  consider  our  rights  in  the  interior. 
Something  serious  will  undoubtedly  take  place.  No« 
thing  but  the  complete  downfall  of  the  colony  will 
satisfy  some,  by  fair  or  foul  means — a  most  desirable 
object,  if  it  can  be  accomplished.  So,  here  is  at  them 
with  all  my  heart  and  ener^y.^' 

Mr.  M'Donell,  and  his  co-partner,  accordingly  pro- 
ceeded towards  tlieir  destination,  and  arrived,  about 
the  end  of  August,  at  a  trading  post  (called  by  them 
Fort  Gibraltar)  belonging  to  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, situated  at  the  Forks,  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  Red  River  Settlement.  This  station  had  proba- 
bly never  before  been  honoured  with  the  regular  resi- 
dence of  a  partner  of  the  Company ;  but  the  duties 


'1 


'If 


*ii% 


« 


'-^- 


Ifi 


now  required  were,  it  seemst  too  important  to  be  in<r 
trusted  to  subordinate  agents.  Mr.  Duncan  Came^ 
ron  remained  at  the  Forks  during  the  autumn,  winter, 
and  ensuing  spring.  His  partner,  Mr.  Alexander 
M^Donell,  proceeded  further  into  the  interior,  where 
he  continued  until  the  month  of  May,  when  he  re- 
turned to  the  Forks,  bringing  with  him  a  party  of  the 
Cree  Indians  from  a  considerable  distance,  foi  ihepur* 
pose,  as  we  shall  see  afterwards,  of  inducing  them  to 
assist  in  driving  away  the  settlers  from  Red  River. 

Cameron,  to  whom  his  partners  appear  to  have 
confided  the  important  charge  of  opposing,  upon  the 
spot,  the  further  progress  of  colonization,  seems  to 
have  been  fitly  qualified  to  perform  the  service  for 
which  he  had  been  selected.  He  began  by  ingrati* 
ating  himself  among  several  of  the  heads  of  families 
at  the  settlement ;  and  being  able  to  converse  with 
many  of  them  in  their  native  Gaelic  tongue,  he,  by  de« 
grces,  gained  the  confidence  and  good  opinion  of  the 
Highlanders.  He  frequently  invited  them  to  his  house, 
entertained  them,  and  their  families,  at  his  table,  and 
treated  them  in  a  manner  far  superior  to  what  they 
were  accustomed  to  in  their  own  habitations.  He  took 
every  possible  means  to  secure  their  favour;  and 
they  saw  no  reason  to  be  suspicious  of  his  inten- 
tions towards  them.  The  influence,  which  he  gra- 
dually acquired  over  many  of  them  during  the  au- 
tumn and  winter,  was  artfully  exerted  to  make  them 
discontented  with  their  employments,  dissatisfied 
with  their  superiors,  and  doubtful  of  their  prospect 
at  the  settlement.  He  alarmed  them  with  constant 
reports,  which  he  stated  he  had  received  from  the 


u 


tant  to  be  in<r 

Duncan  Came^ 

itumn,  winter^ 

[r.  Alexander 

iterior,  where 

when  he  re- 

a  party  of  the 

;e,fot  ihepur* 

ucing  them  to 

Red  River. 

>pear  to  have 

ling,  upon  the 

ion,  seems  to 

e  service  fur 

m  bj  ingratio 

ds  of  families 

onverse  with 

ue,  he,  bj  de« 

>pinion  of  the 

to  his  house, 

lis  table,  and 

o  what  they 

ons.  He  took 

avour;  and 

of  his  inten- 

lich  he  gra- 

ring  the  au- 

make  them 

dissatisfied 

eir  prospect 

ith  constant 

d  from  the 


13 

interior,  that  the  Indians  from  a  distance  were  com- 
in<^  in  the  spr  ing  to  attack  them ;  and  that  unless 
they  placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the 
North-West  Company,  and  accepted  his  offers  to  take 
them  to  Canada,  they  would  never  be  able  to  escape 
from  the  country,  or  avoid  the  dangers  which  sur- 
rounded them.  In  order  to  give  himself  an  appear- 
ance of  superiority  and  command,  he  pretended  to 
bear  a  regular  king's  commission,  ostentatiously 
wearing  a  uniform  of  the  Voyageur  Corps  ;  a  short- 
lived regiment,  which  had  been  disbanded  two  years 
before.  In  his  written  communications  with  the  set- 
tlers he  subscribed  his  name  '-'•  D.  Cameron,  Captain, 
Voyageur  Corps,  Commanding  Officer,  Red  River." 
And,  in  order  the  better  to  confirm  their  belief,  he 
conspicuously  placed  on  the  gate  of  his  trading  post, 
a  paper  purporting  to  be  an  order  appointing  him 
(Cameron)  a  captain ;  his  partner,  M^Donell,  a 
lieutenant ;  and  one  of  the  North-West  Company's 
Canadian  clerks,  of  the  name  of  Seraphim  Lamar,  an 
ensign,  in  that  Corps;  and  the  order  sanctioning 
these  commissions,  was  stated  to  have  been  signed, 
in  August,  1814,  by  Colonel  M'Dowal,  the  com- 
mandant at  Michillimackinack^. 


*  The  Earl  of  Selkirk  having  thought  it  advisable  to  ascertain 
if  there  existed  any  foundation  for  supposing  that  these  persons 
were  entitled  to  the  commissions  they  assumed,  applied  some 
time  afterwards,  (in  March,  1816)  to  Sir  Gordon  Drummond, 
then  administering  the  government  of  Canada,  (under  the  title 
of  Administrator  in  Chief,)  requesting  to  know  whether  it  ap- 
peared that  his  predecessor,  Sir  George  Provost,  "  had  given 
authority  to  the  commandant  at  Michillimackinack  to   issue 


'Ul 


3i 


V     i 


-if 


14 

This  impofture  on  the  part  of  Cameron,  and  these 
«88unied  airs  of  trust  and  importance,  which,  in  other 
situations,  would  perhaps  have  only  raised  contempt 


commiasions  to  persons  in  the  Upper  Country,  as  officers  in  the 
Voyageur,  or  any  other  coq)8,  and  the  nature  and  extent  of 
the  authority  so  granted  ;"  adding,  "  that  the  inquiry  was  of 
material  consequence,  as  he  had  the  strongest  ground  to  believe, 
or  rather  that  he  had  unquestionable  information,  that  several 
persons  were  at  that  moment  making  a  very  improper  use  of 
the  name  of  his  Majesty,  under  the  pretext  of  some  such  autho- 
rity ;  and  that,  for  the  same  reason,  he  was  desirous  of  learning 
the  nature  and  objects  of  the  commissions  which  appeared  to 
have  been  granted  to  some  gentlemen,  as  Major  de$  tribua  sau- 
vaget.,  et  dta  pays  conquia."  Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  in  reply, 
informed  his  Lordship  that  "  having  caused  research  to  be  made 
in  the  Military  Secretary's  office,  it  did  not  appear  that  any  au- 
thority to  issue  commissions  to  persons  in  the  Upper  Country^ 
as  officers  of  the  Voyageurs,  or  any  other  corps,  was,  at  any  pe- 
riod, vested  in  the  officer  commanding  at  St.  Joseph,  orMichilli- 
mackioack  ;  but  that  a  general  order  of  the  10th  of  May,  1814, 
g^ve  to  Norman  M'Leod,  Esq.  the  rank  of  Major ;  a  subsequent 
general  Order  of  the  29th  of  May,  1814,  the  rank  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  to  Mr.  M'Gillivray  ;  and  the  general  Order  of  the  7th 
of  September  following,  the  rank  of  Major  to  Pierre  Rochblave, 
Esq.  in  the  Indian  and  conquered  countries." 

In  reply,  his  Lordship  observes,  "  I  have  to  acknowledge 
the  honourof  your  Excellency's  letter  of  the  Ist,  and  to  return 
my  thanks  for  the  very  satisfactory  information  which  it  con- 
tains, from  which  it  appears  evident,  that  the  persons  who, 
under  the  pretence  of  being  officers  in  the  Corps  of  Voyageurs, 
are  taking  upon  themselves  to  act  in  his  Majesty's  name  in  the 
Indian  country,  must  be  considered  as  mere  impostors.  As 
the  imposture  has  been  carried  to  a  very  great  length,  and  has 
been  made  to  serve  the  worst  of  purposes,  I  beg  leave  to  sub- 
mit to  your  Excellency,  whether  some  public  declaration  ought 
not  to  be  made  by  the  Provincial  Government  in  order  to  put 


■n 


T^BStts-^rrt-^L: 


-M-- >,ijM(«** 


'.-it 


as  officers  in  the 
e  and  extent  of 
e  tnqniry  was  of 
round  to  believe, 
ion,  that  several 
improper  use  of 
ome  such  autho- 
irous  of  learning 
ch  appeared  to 
>r  des  tribus  sau- 
mond,  in  reply, 
arch  to  be  made 
ear  that  any  au- 
Jpper  Country, 
I  was,  at  any  pe- 
[ph,  or  Michilli- 

of  May,  1814, 
a  subsequent 

ofLieutenant- 
rder  of  the  7th 
rre  Rochblave, 

acknowledge 

and  to  return 
which  it  ron- 

lersons  who, 
of  Voyageurs, 
8  name  in  the 
opostors.  As 
ngth,  and  has 
leave  to  sub- 
aration  ouglit 

order  to  put 


n 

or  laughter,  were,  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  resorted  to,  but  too  well  calculated  to 
mislead  the  uninformed  persons  whom  it  was  his  oh* 
ject,  bj  every  method,  to  delude,  and  who  had  not 
the  means  of  ascertaining  that  he  was,  in  no  shape, 
entitled  to  the  rank  or  authority  he  pretended  to  bear. 
The  settlers  concluding  that  he  was,  in  some  man- 
ner, sanctioned  by  Government,  naturally  put  more 
confidence  in  his  advice,  and  reliance  on  his  pro- 
mises, than  they  otherwise  might  have  done.  These 
promises  he  dealt  out  in  great  profusion.  To  each 
of  the  settlers  he  engaged  to  give  a  free  passage  to 
Canada,  (generally  to  Montreal,)  a  twelve  months^ 


an  end  to  so  dangerous  a  delusion.  With  respect  to  the  gentle- 
men who  have  been  commissioned  as  officers  des  pays  conquis, 
et  des  tribus  sauvages, — I  presume,  that  the  late  Governor-Ge- 
neral must  have  had  in  view  some  temporary  organization  for  the 
American  Territory,  which  came  into  our  possession  by  the  cap- 
ture of  Michillimuckinack,  and  the  restoration  of  that  territory 
at  the  peace,  must,  of  course,  have  superseded  the  whole  of 
these  commissions."  In  place,  however,  of  any  further  inqui> 
ry  being  instituted,  by  the  Administrator-in-Chief,  for  putting  a 
stop  to  the  proceeding  complained  of,  he  merely  states  in  his 
answer  to  Lord  Selkirk,  (dated  13th  of  the  same  month)  that 
"  the  public  having  been  already  duly  apprized  by  the  General 
Order  of  the  Governor-in-Chief,  dated  12th  of  March,  1813,  of 
the  reduction  and  discharge  of  the  late  Corps  of  Voyageurs,  any 
further  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  Provincial  Government 
relating  to  that  corps  must  be  deemed  unnecessary."  The 
issuing  a  General  Order  in  the  year  1813,  for  the  reduction  of 
a  military  corps,  and  which  Order  had  obviously  been  disre- 
garded by  those  who  did  not  wish  to  yield  obedience  to  it,  ap- 
pears certainly  a  singular  reason  for  deeming  it  unnecessary, 
in  the  year  1816,  to  endeavour  to  enforce  it. 


•^J 


it 


■  f 


ii 


provisions  gratis  for  themselves  and  their  families,  an 
allotment  to  each  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  and 
every  other  encouragement  they  could  hope  for.  To 
many  of  them  pecuniary  bribes  were  held  out  as  an 
inducement  to  desertion.     One  of  the  principal  set- 
tlers was  offered  several  hundred  pounds,  if  he  would 
abandon  the  settlement  with  his  family,  which  he  re- 
fused.* Others  of  them  actually  obtained  considera- 
ble sums  on  a  similar  ground.  One  of  them  (George 
Campbell,  who  was  the  first  to  desert  from  the  colony^ 
and  proved  most  active  in  its  subsequent  destruction) 
received  one  hundred   pounds  as   a   reward  (or  his 
treachery.t     Various  other  sums   were  paid  to  the 
deserters,  or  credited  in  accounts  subsequently  made 
up  for  them  in  Canada,  by  the  North- West  Compa- 
ny.    The  labourers  and  contracted  servants  at  the 
settlement  (generally  under  engagement  for  three 
years  service)  were  also  seduced  by  similar  means, 
with  the  additional  lure  of  high  wages,  and  great  en- 
couragement, in  the  Canadas.  Many  of  these  persons 
Avere  prevailed  upon  to  desert  before  the  expiration  of 
their  contracts,  and  to  carry  away  with  them  the  im- 
plements of  husbandry,  and  working  tools,  which  had 
been  provided  for  them,  and  which  were  afterwards 
purchased  from  them  by  the  North-West  Company. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  any  longer  upon  the  means 
adopted  by  Cameron  to  seduce  the  settlers  from  the 
Red  River,  and  which.  In  the  result,  proved  but  too 
successful.     Several   of  them,  as  has  been  stated, 


*  See  Appendix,  fP.]  and  [S.] 

t  See  Appenilix,  [S.]  and  also  page  32. 


Pii: 


IT 


sir  families,  an 
s  of  land,  and 
hope  for.  To 
leld  out  as  an 
principal  set- 
Is,  if  he  would 
,  which  he  re- 
led  considera- 
them  (George 
>m  the  colony^ 
t  destruction) 
eward  ior  his 
•e  paid  to  the 
quently  made 
SVest  Compa> 
rvants  at  the 
ent  for  three 
imilar  moans, 
ind  great  en- 
lese  persons 
expiration  of 
lem  the  im- 
8,  which  had 
afterwards 
&t  Company. 
)n  the  means 
ers  from  the 
)ved  but  too 
)een  stated, 


joined  him  iiTthe  course  of  the  winter,  and  most  of 
the  others  secretly  engaged  to  abandon  the  settle- 
ment in  the  following  spring. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  success  which  had  thus 
far  attended  the  secret  operations  of  Mr.  Cameron, 
he  knew  that  there  was  a  considerable  party  in  the 
colony  which  was  neither  to  be  allured  by  his  arts, 
nor  intimidated  by  the  report  of  threatened  hostility 
from  the  Indians.  But,  as  the  North-West  Company 
were  resolved  to  adopt  no  half  measures  in  putting  a 
stop  to  colonization,  it  was  necessary  for  Cameron  to 
have  recourse  to  some  more  active  plan  of  hostility. 
Cordially  agreeing  with  his  friend  and  co-adjutor, 
M^Donell,  that  *'  nothing  but  the  complete  downfall 
of  the  colony  would  satisfy  some,  by  fair  means  or 
foul  f'  like  him,  he  commenced  his  operations — with 
"  all  his  heart  and  energy." 

As  the  native  Indians  were  not  to  be  induced  to  act 
hostilely  against  the  settlers,  recourse  was  had  to  the 
aid  of  a  lawless  banditti,  technically  termed,  in  that 
country,  Metifs,  Bois  Brules^  or  Half- Breeds.  These 
arc  the  illegitimate  progeny  chiefly  of  the  Cana- 
dian traders,  and  others  in  the  service  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  by  Indian  women.  They  have 
always  been  much  under  the  control  of  that  Com- 
pany, by  whom  they  are  frequently  employed  as 
hunters,  chiefly  for  provisions ;  an  occupation  in 
which  they  are  vory  expert — hunting  and  shooting  the 
bufialoe  on  horseback.  The  company  also  employs 
them  occasionally  in  other  temporary  services;  and 
some  of  them  are  engaged  in  their  regular  employ-  f. 
ment  as  clerks,  having  received,  in  Canada,  an  educa--' 


1^ 


18 


tion  fitted  to  qualify  them  for  that  situation.  Another 
description  of  persons  was  also  made  use  of,  who  are 
termed  Free  Canadians.  These  are  principally  re- 
tired servants  and  traders  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, who  have  remained  in  various  parts  of  the  in- 
terior, and  whose  services  are  still  occasionally  want- 
ed by  that  Company.  When  the  colony  was  first 
established  upon  the  Red  River,  these  Free  Cana- 
dians, as  well  as  the  Brules,  or  Half-breeds,  were  on 
good  terms  with  the  settlers.  Some  of  the  former 
had  even  taken  regular  lots  of  land  which  they  began 
to  cultivate,  and  the  latter  were  occasionally  employed 
by  the  colonists  in  hunting  for  them,  and  collecting 
provisions.  But  when  it  was  decided  that  the  ana- 
thema pronounced  in  this  country  against  coloniza- 
tion, as  being  *^  at  all  times  unfavourable  to  the  fur 
trade,''  was  to  be  carried  into  effect ;  and  that  the 
settlement  was  no  longer  to  be  allowed  to  exist,  the 
services  of  the  Half-breeds  to  the  colonists  were  pre- 
vented. They  were  directed  to  harass  the  settlers 
by  every  means  in  their  power,  to  straighten  them 
in  provisions,  and  to  drive  the  buffaloe  from  the 
plains.  From  this  period,  therefore,  their  hostility 
to  the  settlement  was  as  marked  as  that  of  their  em- 
ployers, and  they  subsequently  became  the  principal 
instruments  made  use  of  in  promoting  its  destruction. 
To  prevent  any  effectual  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  principal  oflirers,  and  the  other  settlers,  who 
were  not  to  be  seduced  by  Cameron,  it  appeared  a 
material  object,  previous  to  any  attack  upon  the  co- 
lony, to  get  possession  of  the  arms  which  had  been 
furnished  by  Government,  as  well  as  by  the  Earl  of 


m- 


19 


ion.    Another 
ise  off  who  are 
principally  re- 
h-West  Coin- 
arts  of  the  in- 
sionaliy  want- 
lony  was  first 
e  Free  Cana- 
-eeds,  were  on 
of  the  former 
ch  they  began 
tally  employed 
and  collecting 
that  the  ana- 
ainst  coloniza- 
ble  to  the  fur 
and  that  the 
d  to  exist,  the 
ists  were  pre- 
)s  the  settlers 
aighten  them 
oe  from  the 
their  hostility 
t  of  their  em- 
the  principal 
s  destruction, 
an  the  part  of 
settlers,  who 
t  appeared  a 
upon  the  co- 
ich  had  been 
Y  the  Earl  of 


Selkirk,  for  its  protection.  After  several  of  the  set- 
tlers, therefore,  had  deserted,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  others  appeared  ready  to  join  him,  Cameron  is- 
sued the  following  order,  addressed  to  Mr.  Archi- 
bald McDonald,  who,  in  the  temporary  absence  of 
Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  had  then  the  charge  of  the 
settlement. 

"  Forks  of  Red  River, 

3d  Jlpril,  1815. 
"  Mr.  Archibald  M'Donald, 
"  Sir, 

"  As  your  field-pieces  have  already  been  employed 
to  disturb  the  peace  of  his  Majesty's  loyal  subjects  in  this 
quarter,  aud  even  to  stop  up  the  King's  highway,  I  have 
authorized  the  settlers  to  take  possession  of  them,  and  to 
bring  them  over  here,  not  with  a  view  to  make  any  hostile 
use  of  them,  but  merely  to  put  them  out  of  harm's  way. 
Therefore,  1  expect  you  will  not  be  so  wanting  to  your- 
selves as  to  attempt  any  useless  resistance,  as  no  one 
wishes  you,  or  any  of  your  people,  any  harm. 
I  am,  Sir, 

Your  very  obedient  Servant, 

D.  CAMERON, 
Captain,  Voyageur  Corps, 
Commanding  Officer,  R,  R. 
To  Mr,  Archilald  McDonald, 
Red  River  Setllemetit.^^ 

This  singular  production  was  delivered  to  George 
Campbell,  the  most  active  of  those  who  had  previously 
deserted,  and  who  read  it  on  the  Sunday  he  received 
it  to  several  of  the  settlers,  after  they  had  been 
assembled  to  have  a  sermon  read  to  them,  as  usual,  on 
that  day.  On  the  following  morning  the  settlers  and 
servants  collected  at  the  store-house  to  have  their 


*% 


•'•\ 


Vl 


^ 


I 


K 


fortnight's  allowance  of  provisions  delivered  out  to 
them,  after  which  George  Campbell,  with  several 
others,  repaired  to  the  Governor's  house  in  the  colo- 
ny, and  formally  delivered  to  Mr.  McDonald  the  or- 
der signed  bj  Cameron  :  and  while  Mr.  McDonald 
and  the  other  principal  officers  of  the  settlement  were 
forcibly  prevented  from  leaving  the  house,  by  Camp- 
bell and  his  armed  party,  the  store-house  was  broken 
open,  and  the  field-pieces,  together  with  the  swivels, 
and  a  small  howitzer,  in  all  nine  in  number,  were 
seized,  and  taken  out  of  the  store.     A  musket  was 
then  fired  by  one  of  the  party  as  a  signal,  when 
Cameron,  with  some  armed  men,  immediately  came 
out  of  a  lurking-place  where  he  had  concealed  him- 
self, (with  a  view,  no  doubt,  of  aiding  the  depreda- 
tors, should  they  have  stood  in  need  of  his  assistance,) 
and  joined  the  party  within  thirty  or  forty  yards  from 
the  store-house.     Among  the  banditti  who  attended 
him  were  two  clerks,  and  an  interpreter,  in  the  regu- 
lar employment  of  the  North- West  Company ;  Bois' 
Brules^  named  Cuthbert  Grant,  William  Shaw,  and 
Peter  Pangman,  commonly  called  Bostonois.     After 
Cameron  had  joined  the  party  who  had  broken  into 
the  store-house,  he  congratulated  them  upon  the 
success  of  tiicir  enterprise,  and  conducted  them  all, 
with  the  guns  they  had  stolen,  to  his  station  at  the 
Forks,  where  the  plunder  was  deposited  in  the  North- 
West  Company's  store,  and  the  party  regaled  by 
their  leader.* 

*  Oil  Mr.  Miles  Macdoneira  return  to  the  settlement,  shortly 
after  this  robbery,  he  granted  a  warrant  to  search  for,  and  recover, 


ii 


ilvered  out  to 
with  several 
Be  in  the  goIo- 
>onald  the  or- 
4r.  McDonald 
ttlement  were 
jse,  by  Camp- 
se  was  broken 
:h  the  swivels, 
lumber,  were 
L  musket  was 
signal,  when 
ediately  came 
oncealed  him- 
the  dcpreda- 
is  assistance,) 
:t J  yards  from 
who  attended 
in  the  regu- 
pany ;  Bois- 
m  Shaw,  and 
)noi8.     After 
broken  into 
m  upon  the 
ted  them  all, 
ation  at  the 
in  the  North- 
regaled  by 


ement,  shortly 
r, and  recover, 


AAer  this  robbery,  those  of  the  settlers  who  had, 
forsome  time,re8olved  to  quit  the  Red  Kiver,d(j»erted 
to  the  North-West  Company^s  station  at  the  Forks ; 
many  of  them  carrying  witii  them  the  Goveniment 
muskets  which  had  been  issued  to  them,  the  guns,  and 
armb,  which  Lord  Selkirk  had  likt^wise  provided,  and 
which,  (as  well  as  various  other  articles,  belonging 
to  his  Lordship,  such  as  implements  of  husbandly, 
&c.)  were  afterwards  purchased  by  the  North-West 
Company,  who  could  not  but  have  known  they  were 
stolen.  One  of  the  labourers  belonging  to  the  settle- 
ment, who  had  assisted  in  breaking  open  and  plun- 
dering the  store-house,  having  been  apprehended  by 
Mr.  Archibald  M*Donald,  a  large  armed  party,  led 
by  George  Campbell,  together  with  the  North-West 
Company's  clerks  and  servants,  Cuthbert  Grant, 
William  Shaw,  Bostonois,  and  Boucher,  broke  into 
the  governor's  house,  presented  their  pistols  at  Mr. 
M'Donald,  and  the  other  officers  of  the  settlement, 
and  rescued  the  prisoner.  Shaw  declared  to  Mr. 
McDonald  that  this  was  done  by  Cameron's  order. 


the  stolen  property  ;  and  sent  several  of  the  principal  settlers, 
and  about  twenty  persons  with  them,  to  the  North-West  Com- 
pany's station  for  that  purpose.  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  would 
only  permit  four  of  the  party  to  enter  within  the  stockades,  and 
upon  the  warrant  being  produced,  and  read  to  bim,  he  said  he 
would  neither  allow  search  to  be  made,  nor  the  property  to  be 
taken  ;  that  the  guns  and  other  articles  were  under  his  charge, 
and  he  would  take  care  to  keep  them.  It  was  in  vain  to  attempt 
to  execute  the  warrant,  as  a  number  of  the  servants  of  the 
North-West  Company  were  drawn  up  armed  on  each  side, 
mostly  with  muskets  and  fixed  bayonets.  x 


I, J 


M 


M; 


1 


t 


Ja. 


li 


But  it  would  require  no  such  declaration  to  satisfy 
any  one,  that  these  additional  acts  of  aggression  could 
never  have  been  committed  by  those  in  the  service 
of  the  North-West  Company,  had  they  not  been  di- 
rected by  their  superiors  to  commit  them. 

Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  the  governor  of  the  district, 
returned  about  this  time  to  resume  his  charge  at  the 
settlement.  A  warrant  to  arrest  him  had  been 
issued  some  time  before  by  one  of  the  partners  of 
the  company,  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod,  a  magistrate 
for  the  Indian  territory,  on  a  charge  of  feloniously 
taking  a  quantity  of  provisions  belon'^<ng  to  that 
Company ;  but  Mr.  Macdonell  did  not  f  hink  fit  to 
acknowledge  the  jurisdiction,  or  yield  to  the  war- 
rant.* in  consequence  of  this  refusal,  threats  were 
repeatedly  made  by  Cameron,  that  if  he  (Mr.  Mac- 
donell) was  not  delivered  up  by  the  settlers,  or  did 
not  surrender  himself,  the  colonists  should  be  at- 
tacked. These  threats  we  r  partially  carried  into 
execution,  and  several  of  the  setters  were  fired  at 
by  Cameron's  people. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  Mr.  Alexander  Mac- 
donell, Cameron's  partner,  arrived  at  the  Forks  from 
his  winter  station  in  the  interior,  and  brought  down 
with  him  a  party  of  the  Cree  Indians  from  the  River 
Qui  Appclle,  several  hundred  miles  further  up  the 
country,  for  the  purpose,  no  doubt,  of  verifying  the 
predictions  of  his  co-adjutor,  who  had  so  often  de- 
clared to  the  settlers  that  the  remote  Indians  were 
determined   to  attack  them  in  the  spring.     These 


■•  i^S 


>  i 


*  For  an  explanation  of  this  transaction,  see  Appendix,  [B.] 


%: 


ition  to  satisfy 
^ression  could 
in  the  service 
J  not  been  di- 
3m. 

>f  the  district, 
charge  at  tlie 
m  had  been 
e  partners  of 
a  magistrate 
}f  feloniously 
i;!;'ng  to  that 

think  fit  to 
1  to  the  war- 
threats  were 
le  (Mr.  Mac- 
:tlers,  or  did 
lould  be  at- 

carried  into 
ere  fired  at 

cander  Mac- 
Forks  from 
ought  down 
m  the  River 
'ther  up  the 
erifying  the 
so  often  de- 
idians  were 
fig.     These 

)endix,  [B.j 


29 

Crees  were  detained  for  a  short  time  at  the  Forks, 
and  generallj^  kept  in  a  sttite  of  intoxication.  While 
they  remained  there,  about  a  dozen  of  the  horses 
belonging  to  the  settlement  were  shot  with  arrows 
in  the  night>time,  but  it  was  supposed  they  were 
killed  by  the  Bruits  under  Cauieron^s  direction,  and 
not  by  the  Indians.  The  chief  of  the  parly  found 
means  to  get  over,  without  Cameron's  permission,  to 
the  settlement,  and  declared  to  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell, 
that  although  they  had  been  brought  from  their  own 
country  for  the  express  purpose  of  assisting  in  driving 
away  the  settlers,  he  was  resolved  not  to  molest 
them.  The  Crees,  indeed,  seem  to  have  been  a 
somewhat  more  civilized  race  than  their  employers. 
They  returned  to  their  own  country  not  very  well 
pleased  with  their  errand  ;  but^  previous  to  their  de- 
parture, they  sent  the  pipe  of  peace  to  the  colony,  as 
an  assurance  of  their  friendship. 

About  the  same  period,  another,  and  more  formi- 
dable,attempt  was  made  to  instigate  tiie  Indians,  from 
a  different  quarter,  to  fall  upon  the  Red  River  settle- 
ment. A  Chippewa  Chief  of  Sand  Lake,  (near  the 
River  St.  Louis,  which  runs  into  Lake  Superior,  at 
the  Fond  du  Lac,)  has  declared  before  the  Council  of 
the  Indian  Department  in  Canada,  that  he  was  olFer- 
ed,  in  the  spring  of  1815,  for  himself  and  his  people, 
all  the  goods  at  three  of  the  North-VVest  Company's 
trading  posts,  if  he  would  go  with  his  warriors  down 
to  the  Red  River  settlement,  and  declare  war  ao;ainst 
the  settlers  :  but  he  refused.*     Tiie  reports,  there- 

*See  Aiipendix,  [U.] 


i 


i  i 


^, 


fore,  of  threatened  hostility  from  the  Indians,  so  often 
urged  by  Cameron  to  the  settlfira  as  an  inducement 
to  make  them  abandon  the  Red  River,  do  not  appear 
to  have  b<!en  ahugethcr  an  emptj  rumour,  or  entirely 
destitute  of  probability ;  but  if  there  did  exist  any 
chance  of  such  attack,  it  was  certainly  an  act  of  the 
most  consummnto  villany,  to  rob  the  settlers  of  those 
arms  which  had. been  provided  for  their  defence,  and 
to  deprive  them  uf  the  only  means  left  thtm  for  their 
protection  against  Indian  ferocity.* 

The  servants  and  others  employed  by  the  North- 
West  Company  began  now  to  collect  in  considerable 
numbers  towards  the  Red  River,  and  these,  together 
with  the  Half-breeds,  and  most  of  the  settlers  and 
labourers  who  had  abandoned  the  colony,  formed  a 
camp  at  some  distance  down  the  River,  where  they 
mounted  some  of  the  gnns  which  they  had  pillaged 
from  the  settlement,  tlvcry  annoyance  was  now 
directed  towards  (lie  remaining  settlers,  and  measures 
of  active  hostility  appeared  to  be  preparing  against 
thorn.  The  Canadian  clerks  and  servants,  together 
with  the  Brules,  were  occasionally  paraded  under 
the  immediate  iiispectiun  uf  the  Company's  partners, 


*  Cameron  not  only  aided,  ns  already  mentioned,  ia  plunder- 
ing the  colony,  by  toroe,  of  its  means  of  defence,  but  availed  him- 
self of  his  assuinod  commission  and  authority,  to  deprive  the 
settlers  of  their  arms.  The  followin;^  is  a  specimen  of  his  orders 
for  this  purpose : — *'  I  do  hereby  order  James  M'Kay  and  George 
Sutherland  to  give  up  their  muskets  in  the  king's  name. 

(Sijjnetl)  Duncan  Cameron,  V.  C." 

Sec  Appendix,  [N.] 


idian«,  so  oHen 
in  inducement 
do  not  appear 
lur,  or  entirely 
did  exist  any 
an  act  of  the 
tiers  of  those 
r  defence,  and 
them  fur  their 

iy  the  North- 
I  considerable 
lese,  together 
settlers  and 
»nj,  formed  a 
,  where  they 
had  pillaged 
cc  was  now 
nil  measures   ' 
ring  against 
•  ts,  together 
aded  under 
^'s  partners, 


d,  in  plunder* 
t  avuileil  him* 
deprive  the 
1  of  his  orders 
y and  George 
name. 
JN,  V.  C." 


25 

at  their  station  at  the  Forks ;  and  matters  seemed 
now  to  bo  drawing  towards  a  crisis. 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  11th  of  June  (a 
day  in  which  it  might  have  been  hoped  some  little 
rest  from  their  troubles  would  have  been  allowed  to 
the  harrasscd  settlers,)  a  number  of  loaded  muskets, 
together  with  ammunition,  were  delivered  out  of  the 
stores  of  the  North-West  Company,  to  their  clerks, 
^servants,  and  followers,  fur  the  purpose  of  an  imme- 
liate  attack  upon  the  colony.  Seraphim  Lamar,  (the 
«Voyageur  Ensign,)  Cuthbert  Grant,  William  Shaw, 
%nd  Peter  Pangman  Bostonois,  formed,   as  usual, 
irt  of  this  banditti.  They  marched  from  the  North* 
^est  Company's  post,  and  stationed  themselves  in 
small  wood  adjoining  the  governor's  house,  which 
ms  the  principal  building  in  the  settlement.     They 
jegan  their  operations  by  fu'ing  a  shot  at  Mr.  White* 
[the  surgeon,  who  was  walking  near  the  house,  but 
Mt  fortunately  missed  him.    Another  shot  was  at  the 
[same  time  6red  at  Mr.  Bourke,  the  store*keeper, 
land  the  ball  passed  close  to  him.     A  general  firing 
[then  commenced  from  the  ^vood,  which  was  rcturn- 
jd  by  those  in  the  'louse,  four  of  whom  were  wound- 
sd,  and  one  of  ^■  liom,  (Mr.  W^arren,)  died  of  his 
^wounds.     After  the  North- West  Company's  party 
^  had  kept  up  their  fire  tor  a  considerable  time,  they 
returned  with  Cameron,  who,  shortly  after  they  had 
left  the  Forks,  had  followed  them  armed,  and  who, 
on  their  return,  congratulated  them,  with  much  sa- 
tisfaction, upon  the  result  of  their  exploit,  and  on 
their  personal  safety ;  a  circumstance  not  very  sur- 
prising, considering  that,  during  the  attack,  they 

E 


26 

were  concealed  in  a  wood,  not  one  of  them  being 
visible  to  those  upon  whom  they  were  firing. 

After  this  cowardly  and  unprovoked  attack,  it 
would  have  been  absurd  in  the  remaining  officers 
and  settlers  of  the  colony,  to  have  supposed  they 
would  be  permitted  to  remain  in  security,  (t  was 
given  out  by  Cameron,  that  he  was  resolved  to  have 
possession  of  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  dead  or  alive ; 
but  that,  if  he  would  surrender  himself  quietly,  or, 
if  the  settlers  would  give  him  up,  all  further  hostili- 
ty should  cease.*  What  was  this  but  an  acknow- 
ledgment on  the  part  of  Cameron,  that  measures  of 
hostility  depended  solely  upon  his  will  ?  At  length 
Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  at  the  persuasion  of  the  other 
officers  of  the  settlement,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
further  effusion  of  blood,  and  in  the  hope  of  securing 
the  remaining  settlers  from  future  violence,  surren- 
dered himself  to  the  warrant.  He  was  soon  after- 
wards carried  down  to  Montreal,  (about  2,r)00  miles) 
to  be  tried ;  but  no  trial  has  ever  taken  place. 

The  remaining  settlers  at  Red  River  were,  bow- 
ever,  much  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  surren- 
der of  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  was  to  ensure  to  them 
future  security.  It  was  of  course  a  most  important 
object  for  their  opponents,  to  get  the  principal  per- 
son of  the  settlement,  (and  one  who  also  held  the 
appointment,  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  of 


*  For  a  specimen  of  Mr.  Cameron'a  curious  letters  to  the 
•ettlere,  see  Appendix,  [C] 


27 


/■. 


them  being 
ring. 

d  attack,  it 

ning  officers 

)posed  they 

ity.     ft  was 

ved  to  have 

id  or  alive; 

quietly,  or, 

'ther  hostili- 

an  acknow- 

measures  of 

At  length 

of  the  other 

prevent  the 

!  of  securing 

nee,  surren- 

soon  after- 

fftOO  miles) 

slace. 

were,  how- 
the  surreh- 
jre  to  them 
t  important 
incipal  per- 
so  held  the 
ompany,  of 


lettera  to  the 


governor  of  the  district,)  into  custody ;  but  having 
once  got  possession  of  him,  they  threw  oif  the  mask ; 
and  peremptory  orders  were  issued  by  Cameron,  di- 
recting the  remaining  settlers  to  leave  the  Red  Ri- 
ver. These  orders  were  followed  up  by  the  most 
wanton  acts  of  aggression,  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Alexander  M^Doneli,  who,  after  Cameron's  de- 
parture with  his  prisoner,  succeeded  to  the  command 
at  the  Forks.  The  remainins:  settlers  were  fre- 
quently  fired  at  by  his  people;  the  farm-house  be- 
longing to  the  settlement  was  broken  open  and  pil- 
laged ;  several  of  the  servants  and  labourers,  quiet- 
ly employed  in  tillage,  were  forcibly  seized,  and  de- 
tained as  prisoners ;  the  horses  were  stolen,  the  cat- 
tle driven  away,  and  the  bull  belonging  to  the  settle- 
ment was  killed  and  cut  up  in  the  presence  of  Alex- 
ander M^Donell  himself.  He  also  made  a  sort  of 
battery  opposite  the  settlement,  upon  which  he 
mounted  two  of  the  field-pieces  they  had  stolen,  and 
established  a  camp  of  about  fifty  or  sixty  of  the  Ca- 
nadian servants,  clerks,  Bois-Bruies,  &:c.  &c.  Such 
were  the  measures  which  this  partner  adopted  for 
defending,  as  he  termed  it  in  his  letter  of  the  5ih  of 
August,  what  the  North- West  Company  considered 
"  their  rights  in  the  interior." 

Another  attack  with  fire-arms  was  made  upon  the 
governor's  house  on  the  22d  of  June;  but  the  fire 
was  not  returned  by  the  settlers.  Finding,  nowcver, 
it  was  vain  to  look  for  a  cessation  of  hohilily,  they 
determined  to  quit  the  settlement,  and  nccordingiy  ^ 
informed  Mr.  Alexander  M'DonclI,  that  they  should 
be  ready  to  depart  in  two  or  three  days.     On  the 


/?  -9 


28 

24th  of  June,  two  of  the  Sautoux  chiefs,  with  about 
forty  warriors  of  that  nation,  arrived  at  the  settle- 
ment.    From  thence  they  went  to  the  North- West 
Company^s  station  at  the  Forks,  and  endeavoured  to 
prevail  upon  Mr.  M'Donell  to  permit  the  settlers  to 
remain,  but  without  efTect.     The  Indians  then  ex- 
pressed their  regret,  that,  from  the  numbers  of  people 
whom  the  North-West  Company  had  collected  in 
the  neighbourhood,  supported   by  the  field-pieces 
which  had  been  taken  from  the  colony,  they  were 
not  able  at  that  time  to  protect  the  settlers.     They 
therefore  advised  them  to  depart,  and  offered  to  give 
them  a  safe  escort,  for  themselves  and  their  property, 
down  the  river,  to  Lake  Winipic.     This  offer  was 
thankfully  accepted,  and  was  probably  the  means  of 
saving  the  lives,  as  well  as  securing  the  property,  of 
the  remaining  settlers.  For  there  is  very  little  doubt 
but  that  the  plunder  of  the  stores,  still  remaining  at 
the  settlement,  was  held  out  as  a  lure  to  tempt  the 
Half-breeds,  and  their  associates,  to  the  commission 
of  the  outrages  against  it ;  and  that  they  were  pre- 
pared to  seize  all  the  remaining  property  by  force, 
as  the  settlers  passed  down  the  river  towards  the 
lake.     Under  their  Indian  escort,  therefore,  the  offi- 
cers and   remaining  settlers,  amounting  to   about 
sixty,  quitted  the  settlement,  leaving  behind  Mr. 
M'Leod,/i  trader  in  the  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  then  stationed  at  Red  River,  with  two  or 
three  men  employed  in  the  mercantile  concerns  of  that 
Company.     Having  thus  quitted  their  habitations, 
they  went,  in  their  boats,  down  the  Red  River  to  its 
mouth,  from  whence,  after  taking  leave  nf  their 


29 

ft-iendlj  Indian  conductorSf  who  expressed  an  anxious 
hope  that  they  would  be  enabled  again  to  return  to 
their  settlement^  they  proceeded  to  the  other  end  of 
Lake  Winipic,  where  they  stationed  themselves  at 
Jack  River  House,  a  trading  post  belonging  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  day  after  they  had 
left  the  settlement,  a  party  of  their  enemies,  com- 
posed, as  usual,  of  the  North-West  Company's 
clerks,  servants,  &c.  proceeded  to  the  spot,  and 
setting  (ire  to  the  houses,  the  mill,  and  the  other 
buildings,  burnt  them  to  the  ground.*  "^ 


The  "  complete  downfall  of  the  Red  River  Co- 
lony*' having  been  thus  accomplished  through  the 
agency  of  the  two  partners  who  had  been  employed 
to  e£fect  it,  it  will  be  important  to  observe  how  these 
persons  were  received  by  the  North -West  Company, 
when  they  reported  to  that  body  the  success  of  their 
campaign,  and  produced  to  them  the  proofs  of  their 
victory. 

They  carried  down  with  them,  to  the  annual  ren- 
dezvous of  the  partners  and  agents  at  Fort  William, 
on  Lake  Superior,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
settlers,  including  men,  women,  and  cl .  dren.  They 
arrived  there  about  the  end  of  July,  and  found  many 
of  the  partners  of  the  North-West  Company  as- 
sembled, who  expressed  their  undisguised  satisfaction 
at  the  occurrences  [which  had  taken  place  at  Red 
River.  Cameron  was  highly  praised  for  the  steps 
he  had  adopted,  particularly  in  carrying  olf  the  field- 

*  See  all  the  Appendix  from  [D.]  to  [T.]  inclusive. 


t.-r^^iuii^i 


10 


If  i' 


Mi 
f 


pieces,  and  securing  the  arms :  and  if  anj  further 
proof  were  wanted,  of  which,  however,  there  is 
abundance,  that  the  conduct  of  Cameron  and 
M*Donell  was  fully  approved  of  by  the  body  of 
partners  then  present,  it  need  only  be  mentioned^ 
that  the  Company,  in  place  of  taking  immediate 
steps  to  have  those  two  individuals  brought  to  trial, 
again  appointed  them  to  command  at  the  same  fita- 
tions,  in  the  interior,  which  they  had  charge  of  the 
season  before — and  to  return  to  the  scenes  of  their 
late  exertions,  doubtless  with  the  view  of  opposing 
any  attempt  which  might  be  made  to  re-establish 
the  colony  on  the  Red  River. 

But  though  these  marks  of  approbation  were 
bestowed  upon  the  leading  actors  in  this  work  of 
destruction,  it  would  appear  that  the  subordinate 
agents  were  by  no  means  so  liberally  rewarded  as 
they  had  reason  to  expect ;  and  that  they  even  com- 
plained of  being  defrauded  of  their  promised  hire.* 
Many  of  the  deserters  from  the  colony,  however,  and 
particularly  those  of  the  settlers,  whose  treachery 
had  proved  most  useful  to  the  North- West  Company, 
were  well  remunerated  for  their  services.  An  ac- 
count-book was  regularly  opened  at  Fort  William, 
in  which  credits  were  given  to  forty-eight  of  these 
people,  for  various  articles  which  they  had  plundered 
from  the  settlement,  and  delivered  ts  Cameron  at  his 
trading  post.  These  consisted  chiefly  of  implements 
of  husbandry,  working  tools,  horses,  muskets,  guns, 
pistols,  &c.  &c.     Thus,  in  one  of  these   accounts, 

^,    *  See  Appendix,  [Q^]  near  the  conclusion. 


31 


appears  a  credit  ^*  for  five  new  guns,  10/. ;  for  a 
new  common  pistol,  I5s, ;  one  old  gui.  1 5s"  &c. 
&c.  At  the  bottom  of  those  accounts  were  gene- 
rally added  the  sums  they  were  to  receive,  and  did 
receive,  as  rewards  for  their  services  against  the 
settlement.  Several  of  these  persons  thus  obtained 
from  the  North-West  Company  larger  sums  than,  in 
all  probability,  they  had  ever  been  possessed  of,  at 
any  one  period,  in  the  whole  course  of  thflr  lives. 
To  many  of  their  accounts  were  also  subjoined,  in 
the  handwriting  of  Cameron  and  M'Donell,  short 
abstrp.rts  of  the  services  which  these  deserters  had 
respectively  performed  in  promoting  the  destruction 
of  the  settlement.  For  example ;  honourable  men- 
tion is  made  of  one  of  them  (in  the  handwriting  of 
Cameron)  thus — "  This  man  joined  our  people  in 
February,  was  a  great  partisan,  and  very  useful  to 
us  ever  since,  and  deseiv?:s  something  from  the 
North-West  Company — say  five  or  six  pounds.'' 
Of  another,  (also  in  Cameron's  handwriting)  : — 
"  This  man  was  also  a  great  partisan  of  ours,  and 
made  himself  very  useful  to  us ;  he  lost  his  three 
year's  earning  with  the  H.  B.  for  joining  us,  and  he 
deserves  at  least  about  20/."  Of  another,  (in  the 
handwriting  of  Alexander  M'Donell)  : — "  He  was 
very  desperate  in  our  cause  thia  spring,  and  deserves 
three  or  four  pounds,"  (signed)  **  A.  M'Donell." 
Of  another,  (also  in  M'Donell's  handwriting : — ^'*  An 
active  smart  fellow.  Left  the  H.  B.  Company  in 
April  last — a  true  partisan,  steady  and  brave.  Took 
a  most  active  part  in  the  campaign  of  this  spring,  and 
deserves  from  fifteen  to  tw.ity  pounds.    He  has 


^ 


! 


b 


i! 


il 


\M 


32 

lost  about  20/.  by  leaving  the  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  a 
month  before  the  expiration  of  his  contract."'- 
(signed)  "  A.  M'Donell."  Of  another,  (likewise  in 
M*DoneIp8  handwriting)  : — "  This  man  left  the  H. 
B.  Co.  in  the  month  of  April,  owing  to  which  he  lost 
three  year's  wages.  His  behaviour  towards  us  has 
been  that  of  a  true  partisan,  steady,  brave,  and  re- 
solute man ;  and  was  something  of  a  leading  cha- 
racter among  his  countrymen,  and  deserves  at  least 
about  20/."  (signed)  "A.  M'Donell."  But  the 
truest  of  all  true  partisans  appears  to  have  been 
George  Campbell.  This  man  was  therefore  con- 
spicuously honoured,  as  well  as  rewarded,  by  the 
North- West  Company.  He  was  placed  at  table  in 
their  common  hall,  at  Fort  William,  next  to  th6 
partners,  and  above  the  clerks  of  the  Company. 
But  this  distinction  (enviable  as  it  might  be  !)  was 
not  sufficiently  solid  for  Mr.  Campbell.  By  the  di- 
rection of  the  partnership  he  received  a  reward  of 
100/.  which  was  paid  to  him  by  one  of  the  Com- 
pany's clerks.  Subjoined  to  his  account  with  the 
Company  is  the  following  honourable  testimony  to 
his  merits,  under  the  handwriting,  and  signature,  of 
his  friend  and  patron,  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron.  **  This 
(George  Campbell)  is  a  very  decent  man,  and  a 
great  partisan,  who  often  exposed  his  life  for  the 
N.  W.  Co,  He  has  been  of  very  essential  service 
in  the  transactions  of  Red  River,  and  deserves  at 
least  100/.  Halifax  ;  and  every  other  service  that 
can  be  rendered  to  him  by  the  North-West  Com- 
pany.    Rather  than  his  merit  and  services  should  go 


33 

unrewarded,  I  would  g  ve  him  a  100/.  myself,  al- 
though I  have  already  be  en  a  good  deal  out  of  pocket 
by  my  campaign  to  Reci  River. 

DUNCAN  CAMERON." 


After  a  perusal  of  the  statements  which  have  been 
thus  submitted,  and  of  the  documents  referred  to  in 
the  preceding  part  of  this  narrative,  no  impartial 
reader,  unless  he  thinks  these  documents  are  forged, 
can  hesitate  in  drawing  this  conclusion-^that  from 
the  first  knowledge  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's  intention 
to  establish  a  colony  at  the  Red  River,  the  North" 
West  Company  of  Montreal  determined  to  prevent  it ; 
that,  in  pursuanc*?  of  this  determination,  they  adopt*- 
ed,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  such  measures 
as  appeared  to  them  best  calculated  to  carry  their  re- 
solution into  effect ;  that,  in  doing  so,  they  did  not 
scruple  as  to  the  means  which  were  to  be  employed ; 
that  their  hostile  operations  increased  in  proportion 
as  the  probaUe  success  of  the  setttlement  became 
more  apparent ;  and  that,  at  length,  they  thought  fit 
to  instigate  those  measures  of  violent  aggression 
against  it,  which  ended  in  robbery  and  bloodshed* 

These  occurrences  were  at  first  ascribed,  by  the 
North-West  Company,  to  the  native  Indiars :  but, 
as  it  became  obvious  that  not  a  single  Indian  had 
been  concerned  in  them,  they  next  attributed  them  to 
the  Half-breeds  ;  a  race  over  whom  they  stated  they 
had  no  control.  Their  influence  over  the  Half- 
breeds,  however,  is  too  notorious  to  be  concealed, 
and  upon  what  description  of  persons  they  will  next 


•.  -Vi 


34 


■f. 


be  driven  to  shiflt  the  blame,  it  is  not  easy  to  con- 
jecture: but,  however  remote  the  scene  of  these 
crimes  may  be ;  however  great  the  difficulty  qf  ob- 
tainl>]g  speedy  and  eflTectual  investigation;  and, 
above  all,  however  bold  and  artful  the  attempts  to 
misrepresent  facts,  and  conceal  the  truth,  the  public 
cannot  continue  much  longer  to  be  misled  by  vague 
assertions,  or  blinded  by  assumed  concern  at  events 
which  persons,  connected  with  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, pretend  to  have  foretold,  and  which,  (in  all 
human  probability,)  had  they  y^ished,  they  could 
have  entirely  prevented. 

It  may  be  recollected,  that  when  the  question  of 
establishing  a  regular  agricultural  settlement  in  the 
Hudson^s  Bay  territories  was  first  agitated,  and  when 
the  grant  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  for  that  object,  was 
under  discussion,  certain  individuals,  concerned  for 
the  North- West  Company  in  this  country,  stepped 
forward  to  express,  in  the  Protest  which  has  been 
formerly  ^ioticed,  their  humane  concern  at  the  dis- 
tressing situation  to  which  the  emigrant  settlers  in 
Ossiniboia  might  be  reduced  ;  and  anticipated,  with 
much  apparent  solicitude,  the  difficulties  in  which 
the  colonists  would  be  plunged.  But,  however  com- 
passionate the  language,  which,  at  that  time,  was 
used  by  the  persons  concerned  for  the  Company  at 
home,  they  seem  to  have  been  over-matched  in  fine 
feeling  by  the  Compary 's  agents  abroad.  Let  us  see 
how  the  Honourable  Mr.  \/i]liam  M'Gillivray,  the 
agent  and  principal  partner  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany in  Canada,  and  member  of  the  Legislative  and 
Executive  Councils  of  the  Lower  Province,  expresses 


pr 


% 


35 


'  to  con- 
of  these 
}f  of  ob- 
1 ;  and, 
impts  to 
le  public 
»y  vague 
Lt  events 
est  Cotn- 
1,  (in  all 
»j  could 

lestion  of 

nt  in  the 

ind  when 

ject,  was 

rned  for 

stepped 

las  been 

the  dis- 

ttlers  in 

edt  with 

n  which 

ver  com- 

mOf  was 

ipany  at 

d  in  fine 

■et  us  see 

rray,  the 

sst  Com- 

itive  and 

presses 


himself  to  Sir  Frederick  Robinson,  then  in  the  tem- 
porary command  in  Upper  C  ..uda,  who  had  applied 
to  him  for  information  with  respect  to  the  colonists 
at  Red  River.  On  the  IJth  of  August,  1815, 
(shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  settlers  who  were 
brought,  by  the  Company,  to  Upper  Canada,  and 
when  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  Mr.  M'Gilli- 
rray,  then  in  that  Province,  could  be  ignorant  of 
the  real  circumstances  of  the  case,)  he  writes  to  Sir 
Frederick  Robinson,  transmitting  a  Statement  drawn 
up  by  him  on  tho  subject.  In  this  Statement  he 
mentions,  among  other  things,  that,  ^^  the  disorder 
excited  in  the  country  by  those  acts  of  violence,* 
the  disgust  given  to  the  settlers  by  the  extensive  dis- 
advantages of  the  country,  as  well  as  the  violence 
and  tyranny  of  their  leader,  and  the  dread  of  the  na- 
tives. Indians,  and  mixed  brecd,t  all  contributed  to 
break  up  the  colony.  Some  few  of  the  settlers 
(about  fourteen  families)  have  returned  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  the  remainder  threw  themselves  upon  the 
compassion  of  the  North-West  Company  to  obtain 


*  Alluding  to  the  proceedings  of  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell.    See 
Appendix,  [B.] 

t  In  another  part  of  this  letter,  Mr.  M'Gillivray  talks  of  these 
Half'breeds  as  "being  a  daring  and  numerous  race,  sprung  from 
the  intercourse  of  the  Canadian  Voyageurs  with  Indian  wo 
men,  and  who  consider  themselves  as  the  possessors  of  the  couA-l 
try,  and  lords  of  the  soil."  It  was,  some  time  ago,  rumoured, 
a  foriTial  petition  had  been  presented  to  Government  in  behalf 
of  these  illegitimate  Boia-Brules  as  "lords  of  the  soil!"  If  they 
have  become  so,  it  doubtless  must  be  by  right  of  conquest,  as 
even  Mr.  M'Gillivray  will  scarcely  contend  that  they  hold  the 
lands  by  right  of  inheritance. 


# 


■  tW^ 


'»« 


means  of  conveyance  to  Canada.  Some  of  them 
state,  upon  oath,  that  they  left  their  homes  in  expec*- 
tation  of  coming  to  Canada  at  once,  and  were  only 
told  of  their  actual  destination  at  Stomoway,  in  thd 
island  of  Lewis,  from  whence  the  embarkation 
took  place.  Others  state,  also,  upon  oath,  that 
they  were  informed  the  distance  from  Red  River  to 
Canada  was  short,  and  the  communication  easy, 
so  that  if  they  did  not  like  that  country  they  might 
have  it  in  their  power  to  join  their  friends  in 
Canada ;  and  others  state  that  they  were  to  go  to 
Canada  by  the  way  of  the  Red  River.  Under 
these  circumstances,  partly  from  compassion  to* 
wards  these  poor  people,  and  partly  from  a  dread 
of  the  consequences  of  their  remaining  in  the  in« 
terior,  (because,  in  the  event  of  the  Indians  attack- 
ing them,  it  was  feared  that  the  Hatchet,  once 
raised,  would  not  discriminate  between  a  trader 
and  a  settler,  but  that  all  the  white  men  in  the  coun- 
try might  become  its  victims,)  the  North- West  Com- 
pany has  offered  these  settlers  a  conveyance  to 
this  Province,  and  the  means  of  subsistence  since 
they  left  the  Red  River,''  &c.  &c.  &c.  An4  he 
concludes  his  letter  to  Sir  Frederick  (in  which  he 
forwarded  this  Statement)  by  '^  begging  his  protec- 
tion and  favour  for  the  poor  settlers."  The  writer, 
owevcr,  deceived  himself  in  supposing  that  the 
"  fourteen  families  of  settlers,"  alluded  to  by  him, 
had  returned  to  Hudson's  Bay ;  for,  at  the  very  time 
he  was  composing  his  Statement,  and  pouring  out  his 
fine  feelings  in  the  answer  to  Sir  F.  Robinson's  offi- 
cial inquiry,  these  obstinate  and  untractable  families 


37 


were  actually  on  their  way  back  to  their  old  station 
on  the  Red  River.  When  tlie  two  partners  of  the 
North-West  Company  (Cameron,  and  Alexander 
M*Donell)  had  proceeded  towards  Canada  with  their 
followers,  these  settlers  voluntarily  returned  from  the 
North  end  of  Lake  Winipic,  to  resume  possession  of 
their  lands,  and  to  re-establish  the  settlement ;  and 
this  they  did  in  spite  of  *^  the  extensive  disadvantages 
of  the  country,^'  the  *^  indiscriminating  hatchet  of  the 
Indian,"  or,  what  was  worse  than  either,  the  canting 
"  compassion  of  the  North-West  Company." 

But  we  cannot  yet  part  with  Mr.  M'Gillivray. 
In  his  communication  to  Sir  Frederick  Robinson  he 
refers  to  certain  ^  statements  upon  oath,"  of  some 
of 'the  settlers  who  were  brou<>ht  down  to  Canada. 
It  is  suflicic  .uly  obvious,  however,  that  these  depo« 
sitions,  whatever  they  may  contain,  should  be  receiv- 
ed with  the  greatest  doubt  and  suspicion.  In  the 
first  place,  those  who  were  examined,  were  persons 
who  had  been  seduced  to  the  commission  of  crime  by 
partners  of  the  North-West  Company,  and  were  then 
at  Fort  William,  under  the  control,  and  at  the  disposal, 
of  those  who  had  seduced  them.  In  the  second  place, 
the  persons  who  had  specially  superintended  these  ex- 
aminations, were  no  other  than  Mr.  Alexander  M*Do- 
nell,  the  Company^s  partner  who  was  so  active  in  their 
seduction,  and  Mr.  Norman  M^L^^od,  another  part- 
ner, (and  a  Magistrate  for  the  Indian  territory,)  whose 
activity,  of  a  similar  description,  will  appear  suffi- 
ciently conspicuous  in  the  sequel.  Besides,  before 
these  statements  are  at  all  to  be  attended  to,  we  ought 
first  to  be  satisfied  that  none  of  the  persons  examined 


38 


t* 


F  .»/ 


were  of  the  number  of  those  fortj-eight  lettlerif 
labourersf  and  othertf  whose  names  appear  in  the 
account  book  made  out  at  Fort  William,  and  which 
specifies  the  sums  respectively  paid  to  them  by  the 
North-Wesl  Company,  for  their  services— as  «*  true 
partisans,"  together  with  the  credits  allowed  them 
for  articles  which  they  had  plundered  from  their 
employer,  and  sold  to  that  very  Company,  of  which 
two  of  the  most  active  partners  were  now  selected 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  these  examinations.  The 
receiver  of  stolen  goods  is  surely  not  a  fit  person  to 
take  the  examination  of  the  thief!  But  this  is  not 
all.  There  is  evidence  that  while  Messrs.  Alexander 
M^Donell,  and  Norman  M^Leod,  were  thus  em- 
ployed in  superintending  those  examinations,  they 
evinced  the  greatest  anxiety  (and  naturally  enough 
too)  that  any  circumstances  might  be  discovered 
which  could  bring  discredit  upon  the  settlement  at 
Red  River,  or  blame  on  its  management :  and  there 
is  also  evidence  that  while  the  examinations  were 
going  on,  M'Donell  received  a  special  written 
direction  from  one  of  the  leading  partners  of  the 
Company,  then  at  the  Sault  St.  Mary,  to  hasten  these 
depositions,  suggesting  the  expediency  of  at  once 
getting  at  something  that  might  throw  blame  on  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk ;  and  that  he  (M'Donell)  should 
endeavour  to  find  out  some  of  the  settlers  u>^  eouldf 
or  toouJdy  swear  to  circumstances  which  might  have 
that  effect  What  the  result  of  M'DonelPs  inquiry 
among  the  settlers  for  this  object  was,  does  not  ap- 
pear. He  probably  succeeded  in  getting  something 
which  he  thought  would  sui*  the  purpose ;  for  he 


Mems  to  have  ba«n  a  most  indefatigable  partner, 
either  in  tlie  closet  or  the  field.  Twelve  months  had 
not  elapsed  since  we  found  him  transmitting  a  des- 
patch to  his  correspondent  at  Montreal,  that  he  was, 
then,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  preparing  ^*  to  commence 
open  hostilities  against  the  enemy  in  Red  Rivor  ;'* 
and  now,  having  obtained  the  victory,  we  find  him 
superintending,  in  person,  the  solemn  examination! 
of  his  prisoners  on  oath !  a  **true  partisan** — equally 
prepared  to  pursue  his  object  with  the  Testament,  or 
the  tomahawk. 

In  the  former  part  of  this  Statement,  it  has  been 
mentioned,  that  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  had  received  in- 
formation, in  the  beginning  of  the  year  181. 0,  that 
it  was  suspected  the  Indians  were  likely  to  make  an 
attack  upon  the  Red  River  settlement;  and,  although 
the  specific  ground  of  that  suspicion  had  not  been 
communicated,  he  lost  no  time  in  applying  to  Go* 
vernment  for  some  military  aid  and  protection.  By 
aflfording  to  the  colony,  in  its  infancy,  a  small  portion 
of  such  assistance,  there  was  every  reason  to  be* 
lieve,  that  in  a  very  short  time,  it  would  have  become 
able  to  protect  itself.  But  it  will  appear  obvious, 
that  the  Provincial  Government  refused  to  give  the 
protection,  without  having  instituted  a  sufficient  in- 
quiry for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  if  it  wai^  expe« 
dient  to  grant  it. 

In  order  to  support  his  settlers  by  his  personal 
exertions,  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  went  to  America,  in  the 
autumn  of  the  year  1815.  On  his  arrival  at  New- 
York,  in  his  way  to  Canada,  he  received  intelligence 
of  the  dispersion  of  the  colonists,  and  the  destruction 


J^ 


40 


-,     I 


of  the  settlement.    He  proceeded  immediatelj  to 
Montreal,  where  he  soon  learnt  that  the  Indians  had 
no  concern  whatever  in  the  transaction,  and  he  adopt- 
ed,  without  delaj,  the  requisite  steps  to  obtain  sub- 
stantial evidence  with  respect  to  the  acts  which  had 
taken  place,  and  the  persons  by  whom  they  were 
committed.     The  settlers  who  had  been   brought 
down  to  Canada,  were  now  dispersed  in  both  Pro- 
vinces, and  many  of  theui  in  great  distress.     That 
distress  was  ascribed  to  his  Lordship,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  not  to  those  who  had  first  seduced,  and 
then  abandoned  them.     The  North-West  Company 
had  no  further  use  for  taeir  services ;  the  expense  of 
bringing  them  down  to  Canada  had  already  proved 
sufficiently  burthensome  ;  and,  of  course,  the  splen- 
did promises  made  at  the  banks  of  the  Red  River,  of 
lands  in  the  Canadas,  high  wages,  great  encourage- 
ment, &c.  &c.  were  all  forgotten  on  the  shores  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.     But  it  is  not  unworthy  of  remark, 
that  no  sooner  was  it  understood  that  Lord  Selkirk 
was  proceeding  to  York,  in  Upper  Canada,  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  on  his  inquiries,  than  rations  of 
provisions  were  ordered  to  be  issued,  by  the  North- 
West  Company^s  agent  there,  to  those  of  the  settlers 
who  had  been  brought  down  to  that  place,  and  who 
had  not  obtained  employment. 

Numerous  affidavits  were  now  taken,  upon  Lord 
Selkirk's  application,  before  various  magistrates, 
both  in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada.  Many  of  the 
settlers,  labourers,  and  others,  who  had  belonged  to 
the  Red  River  colony,  and  who  had  been  brought 
away  by  the  North-West  Company,  were  themselves 


'^' 


41 


examined.  In  addition  to  the  evidence  thus  obtained, 
depositions  had  been  taken  (and  sent  to  England  by 
the  way  of  Hudson's  Bay)  of  those  officers  and  set- 
tlers whof  remaining  true  to  their  engagements,  had 
refused  to  come  down  to  Canada.  These  depositions, 
together  with  other  proofs,  which  had  been  obtain- 
ed, formed  so  strong  a  chain  of  evidence,  as  to  leave 
little  dobht  who  the  persons  were  by  whom  the  acts 
of  violence  had  been  instigated,  and  committed. 

While  occupied  in  these  important  investigations, 
Lord  Selkirk  received  information  that  the  Red  Hiver 
Colony  had  been  again  re-established ;  and  that  the 
body  of  settlers,  which  had  withdrawn  to  the  North 
end  of  Lake  Winipic,  had  returned  to  the  settle- 
ment, after  Cameron  and  Alexander  M'Donell,  with 
their  followers,  had  left  the  Red  River.  On  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  intelligence,  Lord  Selkirk  despatched  a 
messenger  into  the  interior,  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
notice  to  the  settlers  of  his  arrival  in  America ;  and 
of  his  intention,  as  soon  as  the  river  navigation  was 
open  it)  the  spring,  to  join  them  at  the  settlement 
with  every  means  he  could  obtain,  to  secure  their 
protection :  but  the  messenger  he  sent  was  waylaid, 
and  robbed  of  his  despatches.* 


*  These  letters  were  entrusted  to  a  person,  named  Lagimo* 
niere,  whom  liord  Selkirk  could  depend  upon,  and  who  had 
made  a  hazardous  winter  journey  on  foot  of  upwards  of  two 
thousand  miles,  for  the  pur[:,*se  of  bringing  intelligence  to  Mon- 
treal, from  the  Red  R'.ver,  of  the  re-establishment  of  the  colony. 
With  respec*^  io  his  being  robbed,  on  returning  to  the  interior, 
see  t^„  Declaration  of  the  Chipewa  Chief,  before  the  Council 
of  the  Indian  Department,  in  the  Appendix,  [U.]    Lagimoniere 

G 


II 


■— ^C(*5#w*»"«- 


.>  Reports  began  now  to  be  circulated  of  the  pro* 
bability  of  renewed  aggression  against  the  colony  in 
^-  the  spring.  It  was  not  very  likely^  indeed,  that  the 
opponents  of  colonization  would  sit  tamely  down,  and 
permit  the  agricultural  pursuits  of  the  settlers  to  re- 
vive at  Red  River,  without  some  attempts  to  prevent 
them.  In  addition  to  their  original  inveteracy,  they 
were  probably  not  a  little  irritated  at  the  resolution 
evinced  by  the  colonists,  in  endeavouring  to  re-estab- 
lish the  settlement  after  their  former  dispersion : 
And  it  was,  therefore,  not  doubted  in  Canada,  by 
those  most  likely  to  be  best  informed,  that  another 
attempt  would  be  speedily  made  to  destroy  it. 


It     f     ■ 


was  waylaid  in  the  night  time,  near  the  Fond  dn  Lac  Superior, 
by  some  Indian  hunters  (employed  for  the  purpose  by  the  North- 
West  Company,)  who  beat  him  in  a  shocking  manner,  and  plun« 
dered  him  of  his  despatches,  bis  canoe,  and  every  thing  it  con* 
tained.  The  order  to  intercept  him  was  issued  from  Fort  Vfih 
liam  on  the  2d  of  June,  1816,  by  Mr.  Norminn  M'Leod.  "  The 
intention  of  this  express,"  says  this  magistrate,  in  writing  to  his 
partner  at  Fond  du  Lac,  "  is  to  tell  you  that  Lagimoniere  is 
again  to  pass  through  your  Department  on  his  way  with  letters 
to  Red  River.  As  a  precautionary  measure,  he  must  absolute* 
ly  be  prevented  proceeding,  or  forwarding  any  letters.  He, 
and  the  men  along  with  him,  and  an  Indian  guide  he  has,  must 
all  be  sent  with  their  budget,  to  this  place,  here  to  await  the 
result  of  future  proceedings.  It  was  a  matter  of  astonishment 
to  many,  how  he  could  have  made  his  way  last  fall  through  Fond 
dn  Lac  Department.  This,  no  doubt,  you  will  be  able  satisfac* 
torily  to  explain."  The  Indians  who  performed  the  service, 
were  credited  in  the  books  of  the  North* West  Company  with 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars.  Several  of  the  letters,  in  Lord 
Selkirk's  hand-writing,  have  been  since  found  among  some  loose 
papers  at  Fort  Williun. 


43 

^  The  Earl  of  Selkirk  again  endeavoured,  by  every 
means  in  his  power,  to  procure  some  small  military 
protection  for  the  settlers ;  but  his  application  to  Sir 
Gordon  Drummond,  (who  then  administered  the  Go* 
vemment  of  Canada,)  was  unsuccessful ;  and  his  en- 
deavours seem  to  have  been  equally  fruitless  to  learn 
the  reasons  of  the  refusal.  In  making  this  assertion, 
however,  it  is  requisite  to  state  the  ground  upon  which 
it  is  founded. 

In  the  months  of  March  and  April,  1816,  when 
numerous  reports  were  in  circulation,  in  Canada,  of 
the  intended  renewal  of  hostility  against  the  Red  Ri- 
ver Colony,  an  official  correspondence,  of  very  coti- 
siderabl"  length,  took  place  between  Sir  Gordon 
Drumu  '  tnd  the  Earl  of  Selkirk.  It  appears  that 
the  latl2.,  Laving  cciiected  much  evidence  from  va- 
rious quarters,  with  respec*^^  to  the  attack  upon  the 
settlement  in  the  former  year,  was  preparing  to  have 
the  proofs  submitted  to  the  Provincial  Government. 
The  object  of  laying  that  body  of  evidence  before 
his  Excellency,  was  to  point  out  the  description  of 
persons  who  had  instigated  the  former  aggressions, 
and  to  show  that,  from  the  same  quarter,  a  renewal 
of  the  outrages  might  be  looked  for.  In  a  letter  to 
Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  of  the  11th  March,  I8l6, 
his  Lordship,  among  other  things,  says. 


-4 


"  I  beg  leave  to  observe,  that  I  consider  this  matter," 
(namely,  a  small  escort  which  he  had  requested  for  his  per- 
eonal  security  in  going  to  the  interior,)  "  as  totally  distinct 
from  the  permanent  protection  to  be  afTordcd  to  the  set- 
tlers on  Red  River,  in  pursuance  of  Lord  Bathurst's  in- 
stnictions  to  your  Excellency  of  March  last.     1  have  to 


^h 


■        44 

remiad  your  Excellency  of  my  letter  of  November  1  Tth, 
to  which  no  final  answer  has  yet  been  given.  But  I  forbear 
to  press  for  an  immediate  decision  on  that  subject,  as  I  shall 
soon  have  occasion  to  lay  before  your  Excellency  some 
very  important  documents,  containing  evidence  which  has 
come  to  my  knowledge  since  the  period  I  refer  to ;  evi- 
dence which  must  remove  every  shadow  of  doubt,  as  to  the 
propriety  c  f  ^n  immediate  compliance  with  the  instructions 
in  question." 

Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  in  his  reply  to  this  part  of 
the  subject,  b-tys, 

"  I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  your  Lordship,  that  having, 
upon  a  full  consideration  of  the  subject,  and  after  an  atten- 
tive perusal  of  the  numerous  documents  relating  to  it,  which 
have  passed  through  my  hands,  declined  a  compliance  with 
a  requisition  which  was  made  to  me,  for  a  military  detach- 
ment, to  be  permanontly  stationed  for  the  protection  of 
your  Lordship*s  settlement  on  the  Red  River ;  and  having 
lully  stated  to  Earl  Bathurst  my  reasons  for  thi  refusal,  I 
cannot  consent  to  take  any  steps  which  I  consider  at  vari- 
ance with  that  decision,  until  1  am  furnished  with  the  fur- 
ther and  more  specific  instructions  of  his  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment, to  whon»  I  have  referred  on  the  subject.  Having 
distinctly  stated  this  in  the  conversation  which  I  had  the 
honour  to  hold  with  your  Lordship,  at  the  time  that  you 
placed  in  my  hands  your  letter  of  the  11th  November,  I 
had  not  apprehended  that  your  Lordship  would  have  ex- 
pected any  further  answer  to  that  letter,  or  otherwise,  I 
have  to  assure  your  Lordship,  that  it  should  not  have  been 
for  a  moment  withheld." 

Lord  Selkirk,  in  his  answer  to  Sir  Gordon  Drum- 
mond,  observes, 

"  With  respect  to  my  letter  of  November  lltb,  and  the 


45 

conversation  which  I  had  the  honour  of  holding  with  your 
Excellency,  on  the  subject  of  military  protection  for  the 
settlers  on  Red  River,  I  certainly  did  not  understand  you 
to  express  a  determination  so  absolute,  that  no  change 
could  be  made  upon  it,  even  by  a  change  of  circumstances, 
or  by  the  discovery  of  facts  of  primary  importance,  pre- 
viously unknown  to  you.  To  justify  such  a  resolution, 
thus  unalterable,  I  cannot  doubt  that  your  Excellency 
must  have  reasons  of  a  more  decisive  nature  than  any 
which  I  can  recollect  you  to  have  stated  in  conversation  ; 
and  as  your  Excellency  has  expressed  your  intention  of 
communicating  to  the  North- West  Company  your  motives 
for  allowing  a  personal  escort  for  myself,  I  trust,  that,  in 
like  manner,  I  may  receive  an  explanation  of  the  reasons 
which  induce  you  to  withhold  from  the  settlers  that  pro- 
tection which  his  Majesty's  Government  had  consented  to 
allow." 


M 


Some  time  afterwards,  the  subject  was  again  press- 
ed upon  Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  as  appears  by  the 
following  letter  addressed  to  him  by  Lord  Selkirk : 


« 


Montreal,  April  ^^d,  181C. 


«  Sib, 


"  In  referring  to  the  letters  which  I  have  had  oc- 
casion of  late  to  address  to  your  Excellency,  it  appears 
that  I  have  not  fully  informed  you  of  the  re-establishment 
of  the  settlement  on  Red  River,  which  took  place  last  au- 
tumn, little  more  than  two  months  after  its  destruction  ap- 
peared to  have  been  accomplished. — Your  Excellency  has 
been  apprized  that  a  part  of  the  settlers  refused  to  enter 
into  the  views  of  the  North-West  Company,  and,  when 
overpowered  l»y  superior  numbers,  retired  towards  Hud- 
son's Bay. — But  as  soon  as  the  ruffians,  who  had  been  as- 
sembled from  various  quarters  to  attack  them,  had  dis- 
persed, these  settlers  returned  to  Red  River,  followed  by 


i 


■>i 


MA 


r    r  /  " 

«HiH*aa 

a  considerable  reinforcement  of  people  who  had  recently 
arrived  from  Euiope.  At  the  date  of  the  last  advices,  in 
October,  they  v»rere  living  on  the  best  terms  with  the  In- 
dians and  half-Indians  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  were 
under  no  apprehension  of  any  enemies  but  those  which 
they  expected  to  be  again  excited  against  them  by  the  ma- 
lice of  the  North-West  Company. 

"  Your  Excellency  has  not  condescended  to  inform  me 
of  the  grounds  on  which  you  had  refused  to  comply  with 
Lord  Bathurst's  instruction  '  to  give  such  protection  to 
the  settlers  at  Red  River  as  could  be  aflforded  without 
detriment  to  his  Majesty's  service  in  other  quarters,'  and 
it  is  not  improbable  that  you  may  have  been  influenced  by 
the  idea  of  the  settlement  having  been  totally  and  irreco- 
verably destroyed. — 1  thir.k  it  my  duty,  therefore,  to  in- 
form your  Excellency  of  the  real  state  of  the  fact,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  point  out  the  probability  that  the  same 
persons  who  plotted  the  destruction  of  the  settlement  last 
year,  will  make  another  attempt  upon  it  this  spring,  en- 
couraged by  the  knowledge  of  the  determination  which 
your  Excellency  took  last  summer  not  to  send  any  mili- 
tary force  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers. 

"  Though  1  have  not  been  distinctly  informed  of  the 
grounds  of  that  determination,  I  have  received  important 
hints  as  to  some  reasons  which  appear  to  have  had  weight 
with  your  Excellency. — So  far  as  these  are  known  to  me, 
I  can  pronounce  with  contidunce,  that  they  are  founded 
on  misinformation,  and  can  pledge  myself  to  bring  satis- 
factory proof  to  this  effect. 

"  When  I  had  the  honour  of  seeinj^  --yar  Excellency  in 
November,  I  understood  you  to  be  apprehensive,  that 
the  employment  of  a  military  force  at  Red  River  would  be 
viewed  with  jealousy  by  the  Indians. — I  also  understood 
that  you  had  doubts  as  to  the  expense  of  sending  troops 
there  ;  and  1  have  been  informed  by  the  last  letters  which 
I  have  received  from  London,  that,  in  a  comaiunicatioR 


iM 


47 

from  your  Excellency  to  Lord  Bathurst,  it  had  been  slat* 
ed  to  be  altogether  impracticable  to  convey  troops  to  that 
country.— If  these  are  the  objections  which  still  weigh 
with  your  Excellency,  I  can  have  no  doubt  that  they  may 
be  removed. 

<'  With  respect  to  the  Indians,  I  have,  from  unquestion- 
able authority,  such  positive  information  of  their  favoura- 
ble dispositions,  that  I  cannot  entertain  a  doubt  of  his 
Majesty's  troops  being  received  as  fri^^nds  and  protec<^^or8, 
by  the  Indians  as  well  as  the  settlers  ;  so  that  nothing  but 
ordinary  discretion,  ou  the  part  of  the  officers,  can  be  re- 
quisite for  maintaining  harmony.  So  confident  am  I  on 
this  point,  that  if  your  Excellency  will  allow  a  company 
of  soldiers  to  be  sent  up,  and  will  entrust  the  selection  of 
the  officers  and  men  to  Colonel  Darling,  I  will  take  upon 
myself  the  entire  responsibility,  if  any  such  bad  conse- 
quences (as  I  conceive  your  Excellency  to  apprehend) 
should  arise  on  the  part  of  the  Indians'*^. 

"  W  ith  respect  to  the  difficulty,  and  expense,  of  con- 
veying the  men,  I  am  ready  on  that  point  also  to  relieve 
your  Excellency  of  all  the  trouble  and  responsibility.  All 
that  I  ask  is  your  authority  for  the  Commissary  General 
here  to  issue  out  of  his  stores  such  articles  as  may  be 


•^ 


'  •  The  Earl  of  Selkirk  was  wrong  in  supposing  that  the  Go- 
vernor of  Canada  could  have  adopted,  with  propriety,  any 
measure  within  bis  government,  upon  the  responsibility  of  his 
Lordship,  or  of  any  other  private  individual  whatever.  The 
respon$iibility  must,  of  course,  have  rested  with  the  person  ad- 
ministering the  government.  The  circumstance,  however, 
tends  to  show,  how  anxious  Lord  Selkirk  must  have  been  to 
protect  the  colonists  from  the  sanguinary  attack  which,  he  was 
go  well  assured,  would  take  place  ;  and  that,  if  any  blame 
should  eventually  occur,  in  consequence  of  military  protection 
being  granted  as  a  mesisure  of  precaution,  that  he  wished  none 
of  that  blame  should  be  attached  to  any  one  but  himself. 


P 


'"^W." 


48 

wquiK'fl  for  the  outfit  and  supply  of  the  expedition — 
leaving  it  to  his  Majesty's  Government  at  home  to  decide, 
whether  these  articles  are  to  be  allowed  as  for  the  public 
service  or  not ;  and,  in  the  event  of  their  not  being  allowed, 
I  will  be  responsible  that  these  articles  shall  be  either  re- 
placed, or  paid  for,  as  may  be  desired. 

"  The  only  other  difficulty,  of  which  I  have  ever  heard  a 
surmise,  is,  that  the  officer  in  command  might  be  placed 
in  embarrassing  circumstances,  as  to  the  proper  line  of 
his  duty,  if  called  upon  to  support  the  civil  magistrate,  in 
the  event  of  disputes  between  the  different  persons  who 
claim  authority.  I  flatter  myself  that  this  difficulty  will 
soon  be  obviated  hy  a  reference  to  the  opinion  of  the  At- 
torney and  Solicitor  General  of  England  as  to  the  claims 
in  dispute.  In  the  mean  time,  1  conceive  that  your  Excel- 
lency ought  to  refer  the  question  to  the  Attorney-General 
of  the  Province,  and  that  if  his  opinion  be  taken  as  a  guide, 
the  officer  in  command  will  certainly  be  exonerated  from 
all  responsibility. 

"  In  your  Excellency's  letter  to  me  of  the  1 5th  ultimo,  I 
am  informed,  that  having  stated  to  Lord  Bathurst  your 
reasons  for  refusing  to  send  a  military  detachment  to  Red 
River,  you  could  not  take  any  other  step,  till  yon  should 
receive  farther  instructions.  I  beg  leave,  however,  to  ob- 
serve, that  this  determination,  having  been  communicated 
to  Lord  Bathurst  previously  to  my  letter  of  I'ov.  11th, 
must  have  been  grounded  altogether  on  the  information 
derived  from  the  North-West  Company  ;  for,  at  that 
date,  no  information  at  all  had  been  laid  before  your  Ex- 
cellency on  my  part,  or  that  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, of  a  later  date  than  February,  1815.  At  that  period 
we  could  only  state  grounds  of  apprehension,  as  to  the 
intention  of  our  enemies.  Since  my  arrival  in  this  Pro- 
vince, I  have  collected  most  decisive  evidence  as  to  the 
conduct  actually  pursued  by  them — evidence  which  must 
have  been  entirely  unknown  to  your  Excellency  at  the 


49 


date  of  your  communication  to  Lo^d  Bathunt ;  and  even 
now  you  are  not  in  possession  of  one-tenth  part  of  the  facts 
which  I  can  undertake  to  prove.  In  my  letter  of  lUh 
ultimo,  I  offered  to  lay  the  evidence  before  your  Excellen- 
cy, and  your  reply  gave  me  to  understand,  that  it  was  too 
late  to  be  taken  into  consideration. 

'*  I  presume,  however,  that  the  instructions  given  by 
Lord  Bathurst  in  March,  1815,  have  never  been  recalled ; 
and  till  they  are  positively  and  explicitly  recalled,  I  con- 
ceive that  it  remains  in  your  Excellency's  discretion  to  act 
apon  them,  if  you  see  (it ;  and  that  vou  cannot  be  precluded 
from  the  exercise  of  that  discretion,  by  any  determination 
which  you  may  have  expressed,  while  you  were  under  an 
erroneous  impression  as  to  the  real  state  of  the  facts,  or 
while  the  circumstances  of  the  case  were  different  from 
those  which  now  exist.     The  re-establishment  of  the  set- 
tlement, and  a  probability  of  a  renewal  of  hostile  attacks 
against  it,  call  loudly  for  a  revisal  of  your  determination. 
The  occurrences  of  last  summer  prove,  beyond  all  possi- 
bility of  doubt,  that  the  countenance  of  the  public  force  is 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers  against  the 
lawless  violence  of  their  enemies ;  and  the  instructions 
which  your  Excellency  received  last  year  from  Lord 
Bathurst  cannot  leave  any  doubt  as  to  the  intentions  of  his 
Majesty's  Government  to  afford  protection,  a.id  not  to 
abandon  the  settlers  to  their  fate,  as  if  they  were  out  of 
the  pale  of  the  British  Empire.     If,  however,  your  Ex- 
cellency persevere  in  your  intention  to  do  nothing,  till  you 
receive  farther  instructions,  there  is  a  probability,  almost 
amounting  to  a  certainty,  that  another  season  must  be  lost, 
before  the  requisite  force  can  be  sent  up  ;  during  another 
year  the  settlers  must  remain  exposed  to  attack,  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  expect,  that  in  consequence  of  this  de- 
lay, many  lives  may  be  lost. 

"  That  this  calamity  can  only  be  averted  by  the  mean? 
pointed  out  in  Lord  Bathurst's  instructions,  and  that  no 

H 


^,? 


I'M 


50 

r«tMonable  objection  lies  against  that  measure,  are  points 
of  which  your  Excellency  cannot  fail  to  be  convinced,  upon 
*  careful  re-examination  of  the  subject,  when  you  have 
the  whole  evidence  before  you,  and  can  bestow  equal  at- 
tention on  both  sides  of  the  question. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

&c.  &c.  &c. 
(Signed)  SELKIRK. 

"  To  Hit  Excellency^ 
Sir  Gordon  Drummondf 
^c,  ire.  ^c,*^ 

In  answer  to  this  letter,  his  Lordship  received  thte 
foHowing  reply  from  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  : — 


■'v«." 


**  Castle  St.  Lewis, 
^        "Quebec,  27/Aji(pn7,  1816. 
"  Mv  Lord, 

"  1  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  33d  in^itant,  and  regret  extremely  to  find  that 
your  Lordship  deems  it  necessary  to  urge  me  on  a  point  to 
which  I  have  already  so  fully  and  so  candidly  replied. 

"  I  trust  that  the  communication  which  1  made  on  the 
25th  instant,  both  to  your  Lordship  and  to  the  partners  of 
the  North- West  Company,  will  have  the  desired  effect  of 
preventing  a  repetition  of  tie  mutual  proceedings  and  out- 
rages which  have  been  mad  >.  the  subject  of  complaint  to 
his  Majesty^s  Government,  a  id  which  were  so  strongly  de- 
nounced in  the  despatch  of  Earl  Bathurst,  cited  in  the 
above  communication. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

&c.  &.C.  &c. 
(Signed)        GORDON  DRUMMOND. 
"  Earl  of  Selkirk.''' 


J  -   i": 
f 


'  h 


■^  •■,* 


51 


The  following  was  the  letter  (of  the  29th  of  AprB) 
referred  to  by  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  in  his  above- 
mentioned  communication,  and  the  answer  to  which 
is  also  subjoined  :— • 

"  Castle  or  St.  Lewis,  QusBcr, 
"  25th  ^pril,  1816, 
"  My  Lord, 

"  Having  received  from  my  Lord  Bathurat  a  despatch, 
in  which  his  Lordship  acquaints  me  that  many  complaints 
had  been  made  to  b^m  of  the  violent  proceedings,  and 
mutual  outrages,  of  the  servants  of  the  North-West  and 
Hudson's  Bay  Companies,  in  the  remote  parts  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's North  American  dominions,  which,  if  persevered 
in,  may  ultimately  lead,  not  only  to  the  destruction  of  the 
individuals  concerned,  but  of  others  of  his  Majesty's  sub- 
jects ;  I  am,  therefore,  in  obedience  to  his  Lordship's 
commands,  to  desirci  that  your  Lordship  will,  without  loss 
of  time,  inculcate  on  those  servants  and  agents  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  may  be  under  your  control, 
or  within  your  influence,  the  necessity  of  abstaining  from 
a  repetition  of  those  outrages  which  have  been  lately  so 
frequent  a  cause  of  complaint ;  and  I  am  to  convey  to  your 
Lordship  the  determination  of  his  Majesty's  Government 
to  punish,  with  the  utmost  severity,  any  person  who  may 
be  found  to  have  cau»cd  or  instigated  proceedings  so  fatal 
to  the  tranquillity  of  the  possessions  in  that  quarter,  and  so 
disgraceful  to  the  British  name. 

*'  I  am  to  acquaint  your  Lordship  that  a  similar  commu- 
nication has  been  made  to  Mr.  M'GiUivray,  as  one  of  the 
principal  partners  of  the  North- West  Company. 
I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

&ic.  &c.  &c. 
(Signed)  GORDON  DRUMMOND. 

'■  Karl  of  Selkirk:'' 


\i 


'■} 


■>-^-,    .    .fc>J'Mfr^-^fc 


in 


I 


:-V-      ^^ 


52 


"  Sir, 

"  I  have  to  Packnowlcdge  the  honour  of  joui  ^x- 
ccllency'B  letter  of  the  35th,  communicating  the  receipt  of 
a  despatch  from  Lord  Bathurst  relative  to  the  complaints 
which  have  been  made  to  him  of  violent  proceedings  be« 
twcen  the  servants  of  the  North- West,  and  Hudson's  Bay 
Companies. 

"  It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  his  Ma- 
jesty's  Government  arc  at  length  determined  to  punish  the 
authors  of  these  outrages.  I  shall  not  fail  to  communicate 
your  Excellency's  letter,  not  only  to  the  persons  in  my 
own  employment,  but  also  the  servants  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  with  whom  I  have  any  correspondence. 
At  the  same  time,  I  must  be  permitted  to  observe,  that  the 
uniform  tenor  of  my  own  instructions  has  been  exactly  con- 
formable to  that  which  Lord  Bathurst  now  inculcates  ; 
and  this  has  also  been  the  case  as  to  the  instructions  given 
by  the  directors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  their  ser- 
vants. Of  this  I  can  speak  of  my  own  certain  knowledge 
for  the  last  six  years,  and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  case  was  the  same  before  that  time.  I  must  also 
take  the  liberty  of  observing,  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany are  possessed  of  ample  materials  to  prove  that  the 
outrages  which  Lord  Bathurst  speaks  of  have  not  been 
'  mutual,'  but  all  on  one  side.  As,  however,  the  proof  of 
this  assertion  may  require  an  investigation  of  some  length, 
1  beg  leave  to  point  out  two  very  obvious  considerations  of 
probability,  of  which  Lord  Bathurst  cannot  fail  to  perceive 
the  force. 

"  In  the  first  place,  the  establishment  of  men  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  does  not  amount  to 
one  third  of  the  number  employed  by  the  North- West 
Company.  Whether  is  it  most  probable  that  a  system  of 
aggression  and  violence  should  originate  with  the  weaker 
party,  or  with  the  stronger  ? 

^'  In  the  second  place,  your  Excellency  is  aware,  that, 


53 

for  more  than  a  year  past,  it  has  been  the  anxious  wish  of 
the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company,  that  a  party  of  troops  should 
be  stationed  in  these  parts  of  his  Majesty's  dominions  for 
the  purpose  of  preserving  tlie  peace.  Is  it  probable  that 
such  an  application  should  come  from  a  body  of  men 
who  arc  disposed  to  encourage  their  servants  in  acts  of 
violence  and  outrage  ? 

1  have   he  honour  to  be, 

Sic,  &LC.  &.C. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK. 

"  His  ExcelUnci/j 
Sir  Gordon  Drumtnond.^^ 

After  a  perusal  of  the  Documents  above  referred 
tOf  can  there  exist  a  doubt  that  the  Earl  of  Selkirk 
made  every  exertion  in  his  power  to  warn  the  Pro- 
vincial Government  of  the  apprehended  renewal  of 
those  outrages  which  had  caused  the  destruction  of 
the  Red  River  settlement  in  the  year  1815?  Is  it 
not  obvious  that  he  not  only  pointed  out  the  evil,  but 
suggested  the  remedy  ?  and  that,  in  doing  so,  he  had 
not  forgotten  to  consider  the  most  likely  means  of 
securing,  from  subsequent  blame,  those  individuals 
who  might  be  appointed  personally  to  assist  in  pro- 
tecting the  colonists,  and  keeping  the  peace  ? 

From  the  letters,  however,  which  he  received  from 
the  Provincial  Government,  it  maybe  collected,  Ui:-.* 
the  measures  of  precaution  which  had  been  applied 
for,  were  not  only  refused,  but  that  a  determination  had 
been  made  not  to  communicate  to  him  the  grounds  of 
the  refusal.  The  Governor,  or  person  administering  the 
government,  of  Canada,  no  doubt,  had  a  right  to  give, 
or  to  withhold,  the  reasons  of  his  dissent.  He  might 
think  it  was  sufficient  that  he  had  communicated  them. 


.,\ 


f 


(i 


:| 


54 

the  year  before,  to  his  Majesty's  Government.  But, 
as  a  candid  communication  of  the  grounds  of  hia  for- 
mer decisions  might  eventually  have  been  the  means 
of  his  becoming  better  informed:  and  as,  at  all 
events,  the  consideration  of  the  additional  evidence 
which  was  offered  by  the  Earl  of  S^slkirk,  could  not 
have  made  him  less  master  of  the  subject,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  guess  what  just  reason  can  be  assigned  tor 
the  refusal.  The  despatch  from  the  Secretary  of 
State,  conveying  the  determination  of  his  Majesty-s 
Government  (as  stated  in  Sir  Gordon  Drummond*s 
letter  of  the  25th  of  April,)  to  punish,  with  the 
utmost  severity,  those  persons  who  were  found  to 
have  caused,  or  instigated,  the  proceedings  in  ques- 
tion, surely  required  from  the  Provincial  Government, 
an  immediate,  and  a  rigid,  inquiry.  How  could  the 
persons  be  punished  until  they  were  known  ?  and, 
perhaps,  the  very  last  person  in  Canada,  whom  Sir 
Gordon  Drummond  ought  to  have  requested  to  guide 
him  in  the  search,  was  the  individual  upon  whom,  it 
would  appear,  he  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  relied 
for  information.  Whatever  might  have  been  the 
private  opinion  which  he  entertained  of  the  chief 
agent  of  the  North-West  Company,  that  agent  was 
surely  not  the  proper  channel  through  which  infor- 
mation ought  principally  to  have  been  sought  for, 
upon  matters  in  which  the  Company  itself  appeared 
to  be  so  deeply  implicated.  Delicacy,  even  towards 
Mr.  M*Gillivray  himself,  ought,  surely,  to  have 
prevented  the  question  from  being  put  to  him.  It 
is  not  meant,  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  insinuate  that 
the  Provincial  Government,  ip  thus  applying  to  the 


55 

pribcipal  ag«nt  of  that  Company,  had  any  doubt 
whatever  but  that  accurate  information  would  be 
thereby  obtained.  Mr.  M*Giltivray  was  among  the 
highest  in  point  of  rank  within  the  province,  and  a 
member  of  the  Council;  and,  in  applying  to  him, 
Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  without  do  jbt,  concluded 
he  was  directing  his  inquiries  to  one  who  was  ena- 
bled, from  his  situation,  to  assist  him  on  the  subject 
But,  if  he  resolved  to  consult  him,  he  ought  to  have 
consulted  him  along  with  others,  and  not  to  have 
remained  satisfied  with  the  answers  exclusively  gi- 
ven by  an  agent  of  that  body,  against  which  such 
heavy  charges  had  been  made,  and  officially  submit- 
ted, to  his  Majesty^s  Government. 

That  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  did,  from  the  first, 
rest  satisfied  with  such  answer^  as  the  principal  agent 
for  the  North- West  Company  chose  to  communicate, 
can  scarcely  be  doubted  by  any  one  who  wil?  peruse 
the  following  letter,  addressed,  by  his  Exceiiency^s 
direction,  from  the  adjutant-general  at  Quebec,  to  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk's  agents  at  Montreal,  previous  to  his 
Lordship's  arrival  in  Canada. 

Quebec,  13th  July,  1815. 
"  Gentlemen, 

"  Referring  to  my  letter  to  you  of  the  8th  ultimo, 
inclosing  a  copy  of  a  communication  proposed  to  be  made 
to  Mr.  M'Gillivray,  containing  certain  queries  relative  to 
the  danger  with  which  the  settlers  on  Red  River  are  sup- 
posed to  be  threatened  from  the  hostility  of  the  Indians, 
instigated  by  the  servants  of  the  North- West  Company, 
I  am  directed  by  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  to  acquaint  you, 
that  that  letter  has  been  answered  by  Mr.  M'Gillivray  in 


'V-! 


A 


l» 


I  I 


•uch  a  manner  as  would  have  removed  from  his  Excellen* 
cy's  mind  all  traces  of  any  impressii  ^  unfavourable  <;o  the 
honourable  character,  and  liberal  principles,  of  the  heads 
of  the  North- West  Company,  had  any  such  impression  ex* 
isted. 

"  On  a  full  consideration,  however,  of  the  statements 
and  documents  now  before  him,  Sir  Gordon  Drumraond 
is  of  opinion,  that  if  the  lives  and  property  of  Lord 
Selkirk's  settlers  are,  or  may  hereafter  be,  endangered, 
that  danger  will  arise  principally  from  the  conduct  of  Mr. 
Miles  Macdonell,  his  Lordship's  agent,  who  appears  to 
hi^  Excellency  to  be  actuated  by  any  thing  but  a  spirit 
of  moderation  or  conciliation  in  his  language  and  de- 
meanour towards  the  servants  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany. He  has,  moreover,  assumed  powers  which  cannot 
possibly,  in  his  Excellency's  opinion,  have  been  vested 
in  him,  or  in  any  agent,  public  or  private,  of  any  indivi- 
dual, or  of  any  chartered  body.*  The  legality,  however, 
or  otherwise,  of  the  proclamations  issued  by  Mr.  Miles 
Macdonell,  (copy  of  two  of  which  are  enclosed,)  will  of 
course  be  determined  in  a  court  of  law  in  Great  Britain, 
to  which  they  have,  very  properly,  been  referred  by  the 
North-West  Company.!  The  papers  which  accompanied 
your  letter  are  herewith   returned,  copies  having  been 


t  i  ii 


It 


■# 


*  How  far  Sir  Gordon  Drummond's  legal  opinion  ought  to 
have  weight  with  respect  to  the  powers,  and  commission,  held 
by  Ml*.  Miles  Macdonell,  as  a  governor  in  one  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  Establishments,  under  the  specific  provisions  of 
u  Rojal  Charter,  it  is  not  requisite  to  inquire.  At  all  events, 
he  appears  to  differ  from  Mr.  Justice  Holroyd,  Sir  Samuel  Ro- 
milly,  and  the  other  English  lawyers,  whose  names  appear  in 
the  Appendix,  [A.] 

t  No  such  reference  to  any  court  of  law  in  Great  Britain  has 
I'ver  been  heard  of. 


s. 


Of 

retained  for  transmisBion  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  before 

whom  it  has  been  his  Excellency  Sir  Gordon  Drummond's 

endeavour  to  place  the  whole  case,  as  fairly  and  fully  as 

possible. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

(Signed)  J.  HAHVEV- 

Lieut.  Coi.  <$rc.  *c." 
"  Messrs.  Maitland,  Garden, )  .^^ 

and  n^uldjo,^^  3 

If  this  letter  should  not  be  deemed  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish the  fact  of  the  Provincial  Government  having 
been  fatally  led  to  rest  satisfied  with  the  information 
obtained  from  those  who  were  connected  with  the 
parties  accused,  the  perusal  of  another  one  from  the 
same  quarter,  (written  a  few  weeks  previous  to  that 
above  quoted,)  and  addressed  to  the  Honourable  Mr. 
William  MKxillivray,  will  probably  remove  any  doubt 
which  may  remain  on  the  subject.  This  document, 
although  it  appears  to  have  been  of  a  confidential 
nature,  was  officially  made  use  of  by  one  of  the  lead- 
ing Partners  and  Agents  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny, and  transmitted,  by  him,  to  his  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment, in  the  month  of  June,  18 Id. 

"  Quebec,  June  14<A,  18 id. 

"  CoNriDENTIAL. 

"  My  Dear  Sir, 
"  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  has  received  a  communi* 
cation  from  high  auAority,  desiring  him  to  make  inquiry 
into  the  foundation  for  a  strong  degree  of  alarm  which  ap" 
pears  to  be  entertained  by  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  and  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  for  the  safety  of  their  settlen  on  R«d 


t  \, 


#■ 


98 


M  ^ 


■    i 


River,  in  cor  i  cquence  of  an  idea  which  had  heen  instilled 
into  their  minds  by  persons  resident  in  Canada,  that  the 
Indian  tribes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  settlement,  have 
been  instigated  to  commit  the  horrid  and  atrocious  act  of 
attempting  the  destruction  of  the  whole  population  of  that 
settlement. 

"  I  musk.  aot  conceal  from  you,  that  some  of  the  servants 
of  the  North- West  Company  are  suspected  of  being  con- 
cerned in  this  diaboUcal  act.  Sir  Gordon  Drummond,  how- 
ever, feels  th'it  he  cannot  more  strongly  evince  the  high 
respect  which  he  entertains  for  the  head  of  that  most  re- 
spectable body,  and  his  perfect  confidence  in  their  candour 
and  liberality  of  sentiment,  than  by  the  course  which  he  has 
not  hesitated  to  adopt,  of  applying  himself  direct  to  them 
for  the  information  which  they  assuredly  possess  the  best 
means  of  affording,  and  which  his  Excellency  is  equally 
assured  they  are  too  honourable  and  conscientious  to  with- 
hold. 

"  I  am  commanded,  therefore,  to  j\sk  you,  if  there  exists 
in  your  opinion  any  reasonable  grounds  for  b.^lieving  that 
the  atrocity  alluded  to,  is  in  the  contemplation  of  the  In- 
dians in  question,  or  that  the  safety  of  the  persons,  or  pro- 
perty, of  the  settlers  on  the  Red  River  is  ei>dangered  from 
the  causes  above  referred  to  ? 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  answer  to  this  query,  I  am  com- 
manded to  remind  you,  that  the  powerful  body  of  which 
you  are  the  head,  far  more  than  the  government  of  these 
provinces,  possess  the  means  of  influencing  the  actions  of 
these  remote  tribes  of  Indians  with  whom  they  alone  hold 
an  intercourse,  whose" wants  they  alone  supply,  and  whose 
conduct  they  alone  can  control. 

"  The  North- West  Company,  therefore,  will  be  consi- 
dered responsible  in  the  eye  of  the  world,  as  well  as  in  those 
of  his  Majesty's  Government,  for  any  such  horrid  catas- 
trophe as  I  have  alluded  to,  whether  arising  from  the  insti- 
gations of  their  subordinate  agents,  or  from  the  influenced 
malignity  of  the  ludiuns  themselves.  .^^    . 


»■!.-. 


59 

'*  Sir  Gordon  Drummoncl  feels  assured,  that  by  this  ap- 
peal he  has  more  effectually  provided  for  the  safety  of  his 
Majesty's  subjects  inhabiting  the  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay, 
than  it  would  be  in  his  power  to  do  by  any  other  measure 
whatever. 

''  His  Excellency  being  ill-provided  with  maps  or  charts 
of  that  remote  part  of  his  Majesty's  dominions,  in  which  the 
Red  River  is  situated,  has  directed  me  to  request  that  you 
will  favour  him  with  the  loan,  for  a  short  time,  of  any  good 
one  which  may  be  in  your  possession.* 

(Signed)  J.  HARVEY." 

"  The  Honourable 
William  M-Gillivray, 

Upon  these  documents  it  is  not  necessary  to  make 
any  comment.  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  evidently 
thought  he  was  thus  adopting  a  step,  which  would 
enable  him  to  give  the  information  required  by  his 
Majesty's  Government.  That  it  was  his  wish  to 
learn  the  truth,  and  to  avert  the  danger,  is  apparent. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  obviou»  that  he  was  much  in 
error;  which  has  been  but  too  clearly  and  fatally 
proved,  by  the  lamentable  consequences  which  en* 
sued. 

No  hope  being  now  entertained  of  obtaining  mili- 
tary protection  for  the  Settlement,  a  circumstance 
soon  afterwards  occurred,  which  appeared  to  afford 
to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  an  opportunity,  not  only  of 
procuring  a  body  of  efficiei  settlers  for  the  colony, 
but  of  materially  adding  to  its  strength  and  security. 


*  See  the  letter,  in  which  the  document  (above  cited)  was  offi- 
cially transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  Appendix,  [D.D.]. 


m 


'*■  J 


^i 


CO 

In  consequence  of  the  peace  with  America,  the  regi- 
merjis  of  De  Meuron,  Wattevilie,  and  the  Glcngary 
Fencibles  in  Canada,  were  reduced.  The  privates,  at 
Well  as  the  officers,  were  entitled,  on  their  dieciuxrge, 
to  have  lands  assigned  them  m  the  Canadag,  itj  wl  »ch 
case  the  men  (of  the  two  first  mentioned  rf^giments) 
were  not  to  be  brought  homa  to  Europe.  Nearly 
two  hundred  of  the  Meuron  regiment  remained  in 
America,  and  of  these  about  eighty,  together  with 
four  gentlemen  who  had  been  officers  in  the  regiment, 
instead  of  remaining  in  Canada,  preferred  going  tc 
;4bv>  R&tl  River  settlement  with  the  Earl  of  Selkirk. 
His  Lordship  entered  into  regular  written  agreements 
with  '^.ach  of  these  men,  in  like  manner  as  he  had 
dc^ne  with  his  other  settlers  and  labourers  at  the 
colony.  They  were  to  be  paid  at  a  certain  rate  per 
month  for  navigating  the  boats  up  to  Red  River ; 
were  to  have  lands  assigned  to  them  at  the  settlement; 
and,  if  they  did  not  choose  to  remain  there,  they  were 
to  have  a  free  passage  back  to  Montreal ;  or,  if  they 
preferred  it,  were  to  be  conveyed,  at  his  Lordship's 
expense,  to  Europe,  by  the  way  of  Hudson's  Bay. 
Beside  the  discharged  soldiers  of  the  regiment  of 
Meuron,  there  were  about  twenty  of  that  of  De  Wat- 
tevilie, who  engaged  on  similar  terms.  A  few  of  the 
Glengary  Fencibles,  with  one  of  their  officers,  also 
joined  him.  When  these  men  were  discharged,  they 
were  no  longer  soldiers.  They  retained  their  clothing, 
as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  and  Lord  Selkirk  furnished 
them  with  arms,  as  he  had  done  to  his  other  settlers^ 
a  measure  which  Government  itself  had  more  than 
sanctioned  in  the  year  1813,  having  ordered  the 


I*' 


61 


Board  of  Ordnance,  at  that  time,  to  issue  some  small 
field-pieces,  and  a  considerable  number  of  muskets, 
and  ammunition,  for  the  use  of  the  Red  River  colony. 
Much  obloquy  has  been  thrown  upon  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk  by  his  opponents,  for  having  entered  into  en- 
gagements with  these  discharged  soldiers,  but  it  is 
not  easy  to  discover  the  grounds  of  their  censure. 
These  men  had  an  undoubted  right  to  enter  into  such 
agreements  with  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  and  the  latter 
had  an  undoubted  right  to  enter  into  contracts  with 
them.  The  Provincial  Government  was  apprised  by 
his  Lordship  of  the  measure  he  was  adopting,  and 
of  his  views  with  respect  to  these  people.  With  this 
body  of  men,  therefore,  as  an  addition  of  strength  to 
his  settlement.  Lord  Selkirk  proceeded  towards  the 
interior,  in  confident  hopes  that  he  would  arrive  at 
the  Red  River  before  any  renewed  aggression  was 
directed  against  the  colony :  but  in  this  he  was  dis- 
appointed. 

When  he  reached  the  falls  of  St.  Mary,  between 
Lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  a  party  of  his  people, 
which  had  been  forwarded  from  Montreal  in  light 
canoes,  that  they  might  arrive  at  the  Red  River  with 
all  possible  despatch,  fell  back,  and  brought  him  intel- 
ligence that  the  settlement  was  again  destroyed. 
They  stated,  in  addition,  that  many  of  the  settlers,  to- 
gether with  Mr.  Semple,  the  Governor  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company's  territories,  who  happened  to 
be  there  at  the  time,  and  also  several  others  in  the 
service  of  that  Company,  had  been  killed.  Those 
who  brought  this  intelligence  had  not  reached  so  far 
as  the  Red  River ;  for,  having  been  informed,  about 


\i 


li 


4 


li' 


p    ' 


62 

the  entrance  of  Lake  Winnipicf  that  the  colony  was 
broken  up,  and  the  settlers  dispersed,  they  had 
thought  it  needless  to  proceed.  Their  account  was 
vague,  but,  at  the  same  time,  there  was  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  the  lamentable  event,  so  reported,  had  ac- 
tually taken  place.  It  was  also  asserted,  that  seve- 
ral of  the  settlers,  and  others,  had  been  brought  down 
from  the  Rod  River  as  prisoners,  by  the  North-West 
Company,  and  were  detained  in  custody  at  their  tra- 
ding post  at  Fort  William.  Previous  to  this  intelli- 
gence, Lord  Selkirk  had  no  intention  whatever  to  go 
to  that  place.  The  route  he  had  fixed  on  lay  quite 
in  a  different  direction,  namely,  by  the  Fond  du  Lac 
(at  the  upper,  or  west,  end  of  Lake  Superior)  the 
River  St.  Louis,  and  the  Red  Lake,  at  which  place  he 
had  sent  directions  that  boats  and  provisions  from 
the  coluny  on  Red  River  should  meet  him,  and  his 
new  settlers.  He  had  even  despatched,  from  the 
Falls  of  St.  Mary,  the  boats  with  his  people,  to  pro- 
ceed along  the  South  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  so  as 
to  avoid  all  collision  with  the  North-West  Company's 
establishments,  and  intended  to  follow  them  in  his  own 
canoe,  when  the  intelligence  was  communicated  to 
him  of  the  destruction  of  the  settlement.  Finding, 
therefore,  that  the  colonists  were  dispersed,  and  the 
settlement  destroyed,  he  was,  of  course,  prevented 
from  proceeding  in  the  direction  he  intended :  and  he 
resolved  to  go  to  Fort  William,  and  demand  the  re- 
lease of  those  who  were  in  custody,  or  ascertain  the 
grounds  of  their  detention. 

The  difficulty  and  distress  in  which  he  was  placed 
will,  perhaps,  be  best  seen  in  the  account  which  his 


iife 


«3 

Lordship  despatched  (from  the  Falls  of  St  Marj, 
29th  July,)  to  Sir  John  Sherbrooko,  who  had  recent- 
ly been  appointed  Governor  in  Chief  of  the  Canadas. 

**  It  is  with  feelings  of  the  most  anxious  concem,^^ 
observes  his  Lordship,  "  that  I  have  to  add  the  in- 
formation recently  received  here  of  the  success 
which  has  this  season  attended  the  unprincipled  ma- 
chinations of  the  North-West  Company,  who  have 
again  effected  the  destruction  of  the  settlement 
on  Red  River,  with  the  massacre  of  about  twenty 
of  the  settlers  and  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  The  circumstances  attending  this  catas- 
trophe, and  those  which  immediately  led  to  it,  have, 
as  yet,  reached  me  only  in  a  very  imperfect  manner, 
and  through  channels  which  cannot  fully  be  depend- 
ed upon.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  North-West 
Company  are  in  possession  of  more  accurate  infor- 
mation, but  the  interest  they  have  to  misrepresent 
the  facts,  must  be  too  evident  to  require  any  com- 
ment. Of  this  I  am  confident,  that  Mr.  Semple  was 
not  a  man  likely  to  act  in  a  violent  or  illegal  manner, 
so  as  to  give  any  just  ground  for  such  an  attack  as 
appears  to  have  been  made.  I  trust  that,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days,  1  may  obtain  more  complete  In- 
formation on  this  subject,  at  Fort  William,  where 
are  now  assembled  many  persons  who  must  have  di- 
rect knowledge  of  the  facts,  and  on  whom  I  pro- 
pose, as  a  magistrate,  to  call  for  information.  In 
the  delicate  situation  in  which  I  stand  as  a  party  In- 
terested, I  could  have  wished  that  some  other  ma- 
gistrate should  have  undertaken  the  investigation. 


\l 


I  \ 


,11 

>    \      : 


i-'ti 


.#, 


:     ' 


64 

Ii:  this  view,  I  have  applied  to  two  very  respectable 
gentlemen  in  this  neighbourhood,  who  are  qualified 
as  magistrates  for  the  western  district  of  Upper  Ca- 
nada,* and  the  only  persons  so  qualified  who  could 
be  expected  to  go  to  such  a  distance.  Both  of  them, 
however,  have  avocations  which  render  it  impossible 
to  comply  with  my  request.  I  am,  therefore,  redu- 
ced to  the  alternative  of  acting  alone,  or  of  allowing 
an  audacious  crime  to  pass  unpunished.  In  these 
circumstances  I  cannot  doubt  that  it  is  my  duty  to 
act,  though  I  am  not  without  apprehension  that  the 
law  may  be  openly  resisted  by  a  set  of  men  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  consider  force  as  the  only 
criterion  of  right. 

^*  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
SiC.  &c.  &c. 
(Signed)  SELKIRK." 

'♦  To  His  Excellency 

Sir  John  Sherbrooke, 
^c,  «J"C.  4*c." 


i     ' 
It       ) 


Lord  Selkirk  accordingly  directed  his  course  to 
Fort  William,  and  entering  the  River  Kaministigoia, 
near  the  mouth  of  which  Fort  William  is  situated, 
proceeded  nearly  a  mile  above  it,  and  made  his  people 
pitch  their  tents  on  the  opposite  bank.  A  number 
of  the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company  were 
now  assembled  at  the  Fort,  or  trading  post,  and 
among  them,  Mr.  William  MKjiillivray,  their  prin- 

.  * 

*  These  were  Mr.  Askin,  of  Drammond's  Island,  and  Mr. 
Ermatinger,  at  the  Sault  St.  Marie. 


65 


cipal  agent  in  Canada.  Lord  Selkirk  immediatelj 
sent  over  to  that  gentleman,  to  know  by  what  au- 
thority, and  on  what  grounds,  Mr.  Pritchard,  Mr. 
Painbrun,  Nolin,  and  others,  from  the  Red  River, 
were  detained  in  custody.  Some  of  these  were  im- 
mediately permitted  to  join  his  Lordship,  Mr.  M^Gil- 
livray  stating  that  he  did  not  admit  they  were  pri- 
soners; and  adding,  that  of  the  others,  who  had 
been  sent  for,  one  was  on  his  way  to  Montreal  as  a 
prisoner,  and  the  other  as  a  witness.  The  persons 
who  came  over,  asserted  that  they  had  all  been  kept 
for  a  time  under  rigorous  confinement.  The  Infor- 
mations taken  of  these  persons  and  others,  with  re- 
spect to  the  occurrences  at  the  colony,  were  of  such 
a  nature,  as  to  induce  his  Lordship  to  issue  war- 
rants for  the  apprehension  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany's partners  then  at  Fort  William.  The  first 
he  issued  was  against  Mr.  M'Giilivray,  who  sub- 
mitted immediately  to  the  arrest.  Two  other  part- 
ners, who  came  over  with  him,  to  offer  themselves 
as  bail,  (which  was  refused)  were  also  apprehend- 
ed, and  detained  under  similar  warrants.  Other 
warrants  were  likewise  issued  to  arrest  several  more 
of  the  partners,  who  had  remained  behind  at  the  Fort, 
and  the  constables  were  again  sent  with  two  boats, 
the  crews  of  which  were  armed,  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  the  peace-ofiicers,  if  necessary,  in  the 
execution  of  their  duty.  The  resistance,  which 
was  made  to  the  servinsf  of  these  last-mentioned 
warrants,  is  a  sufficient  proof  how  advisable  it  was 
to  resort  to  the  precaution  which  had  been  adopt- 
ed.    When  the  constables  landed,  four  or  five  of 


.,f 


66 


V 


the  partners  were  standing  at,  and  within  the  gate 
of  the  Fort,  together  with  a  considerable  number 
of  Canadians,  and  Indians,  in  the  North- West  Com- 
pany's employment.  The  warrants  were,  in  the 
usual  form,  served  upon  two  of  those  partners;  but 
when  the  constable  was  proceeding  to  arrest  the 
third,  he  declared  that  there  should  be  no  further 
submission  till  Mr.  M'Gillivray  was  liberated.  An 
attempt  was  immediately  made  to  shut  the  gate, 
and  prevent  the  constables  from  entering.  Thej 
had  succeeded  in  shutting  one  half  of  the  gate,  and 
had  almost  closed  the  other  by  force,  when  the  prin- 
cipal constable  called  out  for  the  assistance  of  those 
who  were  with  him.  The  party  from  the  two  boats, 
about  twenty>five  in  number,  immediately  rushed 
up,  and  forced  their  way  into  the  Fort.  A  signal, 
as  previously  agreed  upon  if  required,  being  made 
by  a  bugle  sounded  by  one  of  the  party,  an  addi- 
tional number  of  persons  came  quickly  over  from 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  their  appearance 
(for  they  did  not  then  enter  the  Fort)  probably  pre- 
vented bloodshed,  and  further  resistance.  The 
partner,  who  had  refused  obedience  to  the  warrant, 
was  seized  and  taken  to  the  boats,  and  the  rest  sub- 
mitted peaceably  to  the  arrest.  At  the  time  this  re- 
sistance to  the  warrant  was  attempted,  there  were 
above  two  hundred  Canadians  in  the  employment  of 
the  Company  in,  and  about,  the  Fort — together  with 
sixty  or  seventy  Iroquois  Indians,  also  in  the  Com- 
pany's service.  Another  warrant  had  been  issued 
to  search  for,  and  secure,  the  papers  of  the  Compa- 
ny, and  of  the  partners  who  had  been  apprehend- 


67 


ed. — Seals  were  put  upon  these  bj  a  gentleman  ap- 
pointed by  the  Earl  of  Selkirkt  and  by  one  of  the 
principal  clerks  of  the  North-West  Companyi  and 
guards  were  placed  for  security. 

The  partners,  who  were  arrested*  were  taken 
over  to  Lord  Selkirk's  tents,  but  the  day  was  now 
too  far  advanced  to  proceed  with  all  their  eiamina- 
tions.  They  pledged  their  word  of  honour,  that  no 
further  attempt  should  be  made  to  obstruct  the  exe- 
cution of  the  law,  and  that  all  measures  of  a  hostile 
nature  should  be  abandoned.  Lord  Selkirk,  in  con- 
sequence, consented  to  allow  the  prisoners  to  return 
to  their  apartments  in  the  Fort,  it  appears,  howe- 
ver, that  sufficient  precaution  had  not  been  adopted. 
It  was  discovered  next  morning  that  the  seals  were 
broken  from  several  places,  and  that  many  letters  and 
papers  had  been  burnt  in  the  kitchen  in  the  course 
of  the  night; — that  a  canoe  loaded  with  arms  and 
ammunition  had  been  sent  off,  that  several  barrels 
of  gunpowder  had  been  secretly  conveyed  from  the 
Fort  in  the  night-time,  which  were  afterwards  trac- 
ed to  a  place  of  concealment  among  some  brushwood 
in  the  neighbourhood ;  and  about  fifty  or  sixty  stand 
of  fire  arms,  to  all  appearance  fresh  loaded  and 
primed,  were  found  hidden  under  some  hay  in  a  bain 
or  loft,  adjoining  the  Fort. 

In  consequence  of  these  discoveries,  and  the  sus- 
picions that  a  surprise  might  be  attempted  by  the 
Indians  and  Canadians  in  the  Company's  service, 
the  greater  part  of  the  latter  were  sent  to  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  river;  and  their  canoes  were  se- 
cured.    Lord  Selkirk  and  his  party  came  over  and 


\i 


i; 


68 

pitched  their  tents  in  front  of  the  Fort,  where  the 
guards  were  strengthened. 

The  examinations  of  the  persons  apprehended 
having  been  completed,  and  their  Declarations  made 
out  and  signed  by  them,  warrants  of  commitment 
were  issued,  and  the  parties  sent  off  to  the  Attor- 
ney-General of  Upper  Canada,  and  afterwards  ta- 
ken to  Montreal,  in  Lower  Canada,  where  they 
were  admitted  to  bail.* 


I  a 


l^f- 


It  is  now  necessary,  in  pursuance  of  the  object 
of  this  narrative,  to  resume  the  subject  of  the  Red 
River  Settlem.cnt,  and,  in  doing  so,  the  reader  will 
be  enabled  to  judge,  from  the  documents  which  shall 
be  produced  to  him,  (particularly  the  depositions 
taken  at  Fort  William  and  Montreal,)  how  far  the 
outrages  directed  against  the  colony,  in  the  summer 
of  1816,  ought  in  justice  to  be  ascribed  to  the  same 
persons  who  instigated,  and  etl'ected,  its  destruction 
in  the  year  before. 

It  appears  necessary  to  rccal  the  rea'ler's  attention 
to  that  division  of  the  Colonists  who,  refusing  to  be 
taken  down  to  Canada  in  the  summer  of  1815,  had 


M] 


*  The  short  account  above  given  of  the  proceedings  at  Fort 
William,  and  of  the  apprehension  of  several  of  the  partners  of 
the  North- West  Company,  is  taken  from  a  detailed  statement 
which  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  oflicially  addre.'sed,  on  the  21st  of 
August,  (about  a  week  after  his  arrival  at  Fo;^  William,)  to  Mr. 
Gore,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Upper  Canada. — With  respect 
to  the  subsequent  transaction*  at  that  place,  see  Observations 
^      lubjoiaed  to  the  Statement,  page  157,  &c. 


69 

proceeded,  under  the  friendly  escort  of  the  Indians, 
as  far  as  Lake  Winnipic,  from  whence  they  iivent  to 
the  other  end  of  the  lake,  and!  established  themselves, 
for  a  short  time,  at  Jack  River  House,  a  station 
belonging  to  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company.  They  were 
soon  afterwards  joined  by  Mr.  Colin  Robertson,  a 
gentleman  employed  in  the  service  of  that  Company, 
who  told  the  settlers,  that  if  they  chose  to  go 
back  to  the  settlement,  he  would  take  charg '  of 
them,  and  carry  with  him  some  men,  who,  he  thought, 
would  be  of  service  in  assisting  them  to  re-establish 
themselves.  They,  accordingly,  put  themselves  un- 
der his  charge,  and  returned  to  the  Red  River,  where 
they  were,  some  time  after,  joined  by  a  considerable 
body  of  emigrants,  (chiefly  from  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,)  who  had  been  written  to,  in  the  jear 
before,  by  the  settlers  at  Red  River,  and  anxiously 
pressed  and  encouraged  by  them,  to  emigrate  to  that 
place.  With  this  addition,  the  colonists  amounted 
to  upwards  of  two  hundred.  The  greater  part  of 
them  remained,  for  some  months,  about  ninety  miles 
up  the  Red  River,  at  its  junction  with  the  River 
Pembina,  for  the  purpose  of  more  easily  procuring 
buffaloe-meat  during  the  winter;  but,  early  in  the 
following  spring,  they  were  all  placed  at  the  original 
station  of  the  colony,  where  lands  were  regularly 
assigned  to  them.* 

*  When  the  M^ttlemetit  was  broken  up,  and  the  houses  burn- 
ed, in  June,  1815,  the  crops  of  grain  were  much  destroyed  ;  but 
ifter  the  North-West  Compjiny's  servants,  and  the  Half-breeds, 
had  dispersed,  the  crops  that  remained  were  taken  care  of  by 
Mr.  (ohn  M  Leod,  and  a  few  men  who  had  continued  at  the 
lied  Hivcr,  employed  in  the  trading  concerns  of  the  Hudson's 


r 


im 


X    i 


-     i 


It   has   been   already   mentioned,  that  the  two 
partners  of  the  North- West  Company,  Mr.  Duncan 
Cameron,  and  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell,  had  return- 
ed from  the  annual  rendezvous  at  Fort  William, 
in  the  autumn  of  1815,  to  the  stations  which  they 
had   occupied    in  tho    preceding   winter ;   namely, 
Cameron  to  that  at  the  Forks  of  the  Red  River,  and 
M'Donell  to  that  upon  the  River  Qui  Appelle,  also 
within  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories,  although  seve- 
ral hundred  miles  further  in  the  interior.     Neither  of 
these  partners  expected  to  find  that  any  of  the  Red 
River  colonists  had  so  soon  attempted  to  re-establish 
themselves  at  the  settlement.     Mr.  Cameron,  how- 
ever, began  again  to  molest  and  disturb  the   set- 
tlers; upon  which  Mr.  Colin  Robertson,  who  had 
taken  upon  himself  the  charge  of  them,  seized  his 
fort,   or   trading    post,  in  the   month  of  October, 
and   recovered  two  of  the  field-pieces,  and  thirty 
stand  of  arms,  which  had  been  carried  off  from  the 
settlement,  the  year  before.     These,  it  may  be  recol- 
lected,  Cameron  had  formerly  refused  to  restore, 
holding  at  defiance  the  warrant  which  had  been  sent 
for  the  purpose  of  recovering  them.*     In  this  pro- 
ceeding of  Mr.  Robertson,   fortunately,   no  blood 
was  shed.      Cameron  was  released,  upon  promise 
to  behave    peaceably    in  future,   and    immediately 
reinstated  in  possession  of  his  trading  post.     Early 
in  the  ensuing  spring,  however,  he  was  again  ap- 
prehended, and  taken  towards  the  coast  of  Hudson's 

Bay  Companj.     By  the  midille  of  October  fifteen   hundred 
bushels  of  wlieat,  a  considerable  quantity  of  other  grain,  and  a 
large  stock  of  potatoes,  were  safely  housed.        " ' ' 
*  See  Note,  page  20. 


71 


Bay  by  Mr.  Robertson,  under  Governor  Semple^s 
directions,  for  the  purpose  of  being  sent  to  England 
to  take  his  trial.  But  in  consequence  of  the  ships 
belonging  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  having 
been  detained  by  the  ice  all  last  winter  in  the  Bay, 
and  not  having  yet  returned  to  England,  no  account 
whatever  has  been  received  from  Mr.  Robertson 
himself  of  the  grounds  of  his  apprehending  Came- 
ron, nor  of  the  circumstances  attending  that  trans- 
action. It  appears  evident,  however,  that  he  had 
discovered  Cameron  to  be  again  plotting  the  de- 
struction of  the  Settlement,  and  conspiring  with  Mr. 
Alexander  M'Donell  for  the  purpose  of  attacking 
and  driving  away  the  settlers.  In  order  to  ascer- 
tain their  plans  of  aggression,  Mr.  Robertson  caused 
some  of  their  letters  to  be  intercepted ;  and  when 
the  reader  peruses  a  few  extracts  from  some  of  those 
which  were  thus  obtained,  he  will  probably  think 
that  there  could  be  very  little  doubt  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  partners  of  the  North-West  Company  to 
renew  the  disgraceful  outrages  against  the  colony. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  1816,  Mr.  Alexander 
M'Donell  thus  writes  from  the  River  Qjii  Appelle, 
to  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  at  the  Forks  of  the  Red 
River: 


#  > 


I 


*'  I  received  your  kind  Ihvonr  from  Rivitrc  la  Souric.  f 
remark  with  pleasure  the  hostile  proceedings  of  our  ncigli- 
bours  ;  I  say  pleasure,  because  the  more  they  do,  the  more 
justice  we  will  have  on  our  side.  A  storm  is  gathering  in 
the  North,  ready  to  burst  on  the  rascals  who  deserve  it  ; 
little  do  they  know  their  situation.  Last  year  was  bu^  a 
'okc.    The  new  nation,  under  their  leaders,  arc  coming  for- 


72 

ward  to  clear  their  native  soil  of  intruders  and  assassini. 
Glorious  news  from  Athabasca/'* 

On  the  same  day  he  also  writes  to  another  of  the 
North- West  Company  (J.  Dougald  Cameron)  at  the 
Sault  St.  Mary  :— 

"  I  am  in  the  Fort  of  Riviere  Qu'  Appelle,  1 3th  March, 
dashing  about  with  my  sword  and  gold  epaulets,  conduct- 
ing and  transacting  your  business,"  &;c.  &ic.  And  a  little 
further,  "  Sir  William  Shaw  is  collecting  all  the  Half-breeds 
from  the  surrounding  departments,  and  has  ordered  his 
friends  in  this  quarter  to  prepare  to  take  the  field.  He  has 
actually  taken  every  Half-breed  in  the  country  to  the  Forks 
of  Fort  des  Prairies  :  it  is  supposed  when  they  are  collect- 
ed altogether  they  will  form  more  than  one  hundred.  God 
only  knows  the  result." 

Cuthbert  Grant,  (a  Half-breed  clerk  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  the  principal  leader  of  the  Bois- 
Brules,)  writes  on  the  same  day,  and  from  the  same 
place,  to  Alexander  Frazer,  also  one  of  the  principal 
Half-breeds  employed  by  that  Company,  as  follows: — 

"  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  a  few  lines,  to 
inform  you  of  our  countrymen  at  Fort  des  Prairies  and  at 

*  The  news  alluded  to  by  Mr.  M'DoncU,  (and  which,  it  is 
confidently  trusted,  will  prove  to  be  unfounded,)  was,  that  eigh- 
teen persons  in  the  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who 
had  gone  to  trade  in  Athabasca,  had  suffered  every  degree  ol' 
misery  nnd  distress. — "  One  of  them  alone  reached  Fort  Chipr- 
wayan  ;  all  the  others  had  perished  :  and  the  wretched  men 
who  survived  the  longest,  had  been  reduced  to  the  horrid  ne- 
cessity of  satisfying  their  hunger  by  eating  the  flesh  of  their 
decea!>ed  companions,  till  at  length  only  one  was  leA  to  tell  the 
dreadful  tale."  Tliis  was  the  "Glorious  news  from  Athabasca !" 
See  Note,  page  56,  of  "  J  A'urrathf  ol'  Occurrences  in  the  In- 
(liati  f'tnnlriis,''  &r.  ■  ' 


73 


.   n 


lite  English  River.  The  Half-breeds  at  Fort  des  Prairies, 
I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  they  are  all  united  and 
staunch,  and  ready  to  obey  our  commands  ;  they  have  sent 
one  of  them  here  to  see  how  things  stood,  and  to  know 
whether  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  all  come,  which 
of  course  I  sent  word  that  they  should  all  be  here  about  the 
first  of  May.  As  for  the  Half-breeds  about  the  English 
River,  Mr.  Shaw  has  gathered  the  whole  of  them,  as  they 
come  by  water  ;  I  do  not  know  what  time  they  will  be  at 
the  Forks.  All  that  1  have  to  say  now  is,  that  I  beg  of  you 
and  Bostonois  to  keep  the  Half-bieeds  below  united,  if 
possible  ;  as  for  those  here,  I  am  sure  of  them,  excepting 
Antoine  Hoole,  which  I  gave  a  set  down  this  morning  and 
broke  him.'' 

Grant  writes  another  letter,  on  the  s.^me  day,  to  I. 
Dougald  Cameron,  at  the  Sault  St.  IVl  ary.  1q  this 
he  mentions — 

"  The  Half-breeds  of  Fort  des  Prairies  and  English  River 
are  all  to  be  here  in  the  spring ;  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  shall 
come  off  with  flying  colours,  and  never  to  see  any  of  them 
ugain  xn  the  colonizing  way  in  Red  River.  In  fact,  the 
Traders  shall  pack  off  with  themselves  also  for  having  dis- 
regarded our  orders  last  spring  according  to  our  agree- 
ments. We  are  all  to  remain  at  the  Forks  to  pass  the 
summer,  for  fear  they  should  play  us  the  same  tricks  as 
liist  summer,  of  coming  back,  but  they  shall  receive  a  warm 
reception." 

From  the  depositions  also  it  appears  evident  that 
the  greatest  exertion  was  made  by  Mr.  Alexander 
M'Donell  to  collect  the  Half-breeds,  from  every 
quarter,  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  measures  of 
hostility  against  the  colony.*     Many  of  these  Half- 

*  Se«  Appendix,  [V.]  ppge  xxxiii.  and  [Y.] 


Mi 


jf-   -  .X 


74 


.t 


breeds  were  collected  from  a  very  distant  part  of 
the  country ;  some  from  Cumberland  House,  and 
also  from  the  Upper  Saskatchawan,  at  least  seven  or 
eight  hundred  miles  from  the  Red  River  settlement. 
But,  notwithstanding  the  great  distance,  various  re- 
ports had  reached  the  settlers  in  the  course  of  the 
winter,  of  the  dangers  which  threatened  them,  and 
of  the  "  storm  gathering  in  the  North,^^  which  was 
soon  to  burst  upon  their  heads. 

In  a  narrative  which  was  written  by  Mr.  Pritcbard, 
one  of  the  principal  settlers,  (then  at  the  River  Pem- 
bina, where  he  had  remained  during  most  of  the 
winter,  with  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  co- 
lonists under  his  charge,)  he  says — 


•I 


•'k 


-%* 


"  III  Ihe  course  of  the  winter  we  were  much  alarmed  by 
reportti  that  the  Ilalf-hrccds  were  assembling  in  all  parts 
of  the  NortJi  for  (lie  purpose  of  driving  us  away,  and  that 
they  were  expected  to  arrive  at  the  settlement  early  in 
the  spring.  The  nearer  the  spil.ig  approached,  the  more 
prevalent  these  reports  grew,  and  letters  received  from 
dilTerent  pokts  confirmed  the  same.  Our  hunters,  and  those 
free  Canadians  wl»o  had  -upplied  us  with  provisions,  were 
much  i«!rrifi«d  with  the  dread  of  the  punishment  they 
Blight  fi^ceive  for  the  support  they  had  given  us.  My 
Hoighboufi*.  fhc  Half-breeds,  began  to  show  a  disposition  to 
violence,  and  threatened  to  shoot  our  hunter  Bollenaud's 
hor««.  and  himse'f  too,  if  he  did  not  desist  from  running 
♦  he  buffaloL  at  Uie  same  time  they  told  me,  thiat  if  I  did 
iMi<  preven'  him  from  so  doiii  j,  tliey  would  go  in  a  body  on 
horseback,  drive  the  cattle  away,  and  cauac  ray  people  to 
starve. 

"  In  the  month  of  March,  Messrs.  Fraser  and  Hesse  ar- 
rived at  my  neighbour''»  house,  whicli  gave  us  great  un- 


^  -  - 


^ 


75 

easiness,  as  Eraser  was  represented  as  the  leader  of  the 
Half-breeds,  and  that  he  was  a  daring  and  violent  man.* 
On  his  arrival  he  sent  a  threatening  message  to  one  of  my 
hunters,  and  whenever  an  opportunity  offered,  he  was  very 
assiduous  in  his  endeavours  to  seduce  from  us  our  servants 
and  settlers  ;  likewise  a  report  was  very  current,  that  a 
party  of  Half-breeds  and  Cree  Indians,  were  expected  to 
arrive  from  Fort  des  Prairies,  on  the  Saskatchawan  River, 
as  soon  as  the  melting  of  the  snow  would  admit  of  their 
travelling ;  and  the  language  of  every  free  Canadian  we 
saw  was,  '  Mefiez  vous  bien  pour  I'amour  de  Dieu ;  meticz 
VOU8  bien.'  At  the  same  time  we  were  informed,  that  the 
rialf-breed  servants  of  the  North-West  Company,  who  were 
then  in  the  plains,  were  ordered  home  to  their  house. 
This  assemblage  of  those  men  gave  us  the  most  serious 
apprehension  for  the  safety  of  the  settlers,  and  those  ser- 
vants who  were  employed  to  bring  provisions  from  the 
plains  to  the  fort." 

Governor  Semple,  who  had  been  visiting  several 
of  the  stations  within  the  Hudson^s  Baj  territories, 
arrived  at  the  Red  River  in  the  spring  of  18l6.t 
In  the  month  of  April,  he  sent  Mr.  Pambrun  to  the 
Hudson^s  Bay  Company's  trading  post  on  the  River 


*  Fraser  had  received  a  good  education  in  Canada,  and  was 
once  a  clerk  in  the  custom  house  at  Quebec  ;  he  was  after- 
wards appointed  a  clerk  in  the  North-West  Company.  He 
makes  a  conspicuous  tigure  in  the  subsequent  outrages  against 
the  colony. 

t  Mr.  Sample  had  been  nominated  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, to  be  the  chief  governor  over  all  their  tuctories  and  ter- 
ritories— and  had  gone  out,  in  1815,  to  take  upon  him  the  im- 
|)ortant  charge  to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  No  person 
could  be  better  fitted  for  the  situation  than  Mr.  Semple.  He 
was  of  a  mild,  steady,  just,  and  honourable  cliaracter. 


J 


.^' 


If 


9^ 


it  i 


Qui  Appelle,  who  found,  at  the  adjoining  post  be- 
longing to  the  North-West  Company,  a  great  number 
of  the  Brules  collected.  Mr.  Pambrun  embarked, 
in  the  beginning  of  Muy,  with  Mr.  George  Suther- 
land, (who  had  the  cliarge  of  the  Hudson's  Baj  Com- 
pany's trading  post  on  that  river,)  and  twenty-two 
men,  in  five  boats,  loaded  with  a  considerable  quantity 
of  furs,  and  about  six  hundred  bags  of  pemican,"^ 
chiefly  intended  for  the  support  of  the  colonists,  till 
they  could  reap  the  crops  that  were  on  the  ground. 
On  the  12th  of  May,  as  they  were  proceeding  down 
the  river,  they  were  attacked  by  an  armed  party  of 
t\bout  fifty  of  the  servants  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, (Canadians  and  Half-breeds,)  under  the  com-^ 
mand  of  Cuthbert  Grant,  Thomas  M^Kay,  Roderick 
M^Kenzie,  and  Pangman  Bostonois,  clerks  and  inter- 
preters of  that  Company,  together  with  Brisbois,  one 
of  their  guides.  Mr.  Pambrun  and  the  rest  of  the 
party  were  taken  prisoners  and  carried  to  Mr.  AleX' 
andcr  M^Donell,  who  avowed  that  it  was  by  his  order 
that  they,  and  the  provisions,  and  other  property, 
were  seized.  M'Donell  staled,  that  he  had  done  so 
in  retaliation  for  Mr.  C.  Robertson  having  tak<3n  the 
North-West  Company's  fort  at  the  forks  of  the 
Red  River,  and  declared  that  it  was  his  intention 


4-  ;■    *  > 

n 


*  Pemican  is  a  species  of  dried  provisions,  generally  prepared 
by  the  natives^  from  the  buffaloe  and  deer.  The  lean  parts  of 
the  meat  are  &cst  dried  by  the  heat  of  the  fire,  then  reduced 
into  a  coarse  powder,  mixed  with  melted  fat,  and  crammed  into 
bags  made  of  the  skins  of  the  buflaloe.  Each  bag  contains  about 
ninety  pound  weight,  and  it  is  reckoned  a  good  carcass  which 
yields  a  whole  bag. 


97 

to  Bt&r?e  the  coIonistSf  and  the  servants  of  the  Hud- 
don's  Bay  Company,  and  make  them  surrender. 
The  party  was  forcibly  detained  for  five  days,  and 
then  liberated,  (under  a  promise  not  to  bear  arms 
against  the  North-West  Company,)  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Mr.  Pambrun,  who  was  kept  a  prisoner  for 
six  weeks.  Mr.  Pambrun  had  served  as  lieutenant  in 
the  corps  of  Canadian  Voitigeurs  during  the  late 
war  with  America,  and,  in  one  of  the  actions,  had  re- 
ceived a  severe  wound  in  his  leg.  When  first  detain- 
ed as  a  prisoner  by  Mr.  Alexander  M^Donell,  at  his 
post  on  the  River  Qui  Appelle,  bis  wound  broke  out 
afresh,  and  threatened  the  loss  of  the  limb,  but  Mr. 
M^Donell  would  not  let  him  go  back  to  the  settle- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  medical  assistance.  He  said, 
however,  that  if  Mr.  Pambrun  would  write  to  the 
surgeon  of  the  settlement  for  m»;dicine,  he  would 
send  for  it ;  but,  after  the  letter  was  written,  he  re- 
fused to  transmit  it.  It  appears  to  have  been  an  im- 
portant object  with  Mr.  M*DoneIl  todetai.i  Mr.  Pam- 
brun, for  the  purpose  of  preventing  him  from  com- 
municating information  to  Governor  Semple,  and 
from  assisting,  with  his  military  experience,  in  the 
defence  of  the  colony.  As  the  party  afterwards  ap- 
proached the  Red  River,  Pambrun  was  closely  guard- 
ed, night  and  day,  by  several  armed  men. 

About  the  end  of  May,  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell 
embarked  in  his  boats  with  the  furs,  and  bags  of  pro- 
visions, which  he  had  seized.  He  was  attended  by  a 
body  of  the  Brules  on  horseback,  who  followed  him 
along  the  banks  of  the  river.  They  soon  afterwards 
met  a  band  of  the  Sautoux  Indians,  with  their  chief, 


78 


[{&■        ^h\ 


io  whom  M^Doncll  made  a  speech,  the  purport  of 
which  was,  that  the  English*  were  spoilin;^^  t>  e  lands 
on  Red  River,  which  belonged  to  the  Indians  and  to 
the  Half-breeds ;  that  if  the  Indians  would  not  drive 
them  away,  the  North- West  Company  would  ;  and 
if  the  settlers  resisted,  that  none  should  be  s{>ared, 
and  the  ground  should  be  drei|(ifaed  with  their  blood. 
He  did  not,  he  said,  stand  in  r^^ed  oT  the  aid  of  the 
Indians,  but  yet  he  would  be  glad  if  some  of,  them 
would  join  him.  None  of  these,  however,  would 
accompany  him. 

When  the  party  arrived  near  the  Hudson^s  Bay 
Company^s  trading  post  at  Brandon  House,  Cuthbert 
Grant  was  despatched  with  twenty-five  men,  who 
took  that  post,  and  pillaged  it  not  only  of  all  the  Bri- 
tish goods,  together  with  the  furs,  and  provisions,  be- 
longing to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  also  of 
th«  private  property  of  their  servants,  which  was 
dis^ivihuilcd  among  the  Canadians  and  Half-breeds, 
unror  Alexander    M'Donell.      After   this  exploit, 
M^Donell  divided  his  forces,  amounting  in  all  to  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  (including  six  Cree 
Indians,  who  liad  been  prevailed  upon  to  accompany 
them  from  a  great  distance,)  into  separate  brigades^ 
under  Cuthbert  Grant,  Lacerte,  Alexander  Fraser, 
and  Antoine  Hoole  ;  and  he  nominated  Seraphim  La- 
mar, (the  Voyageur  Ensign  of  the  preceding  cam- 


»fl1 


*  The  English,  when  mentioned  in  the  Indian  and  FJiidgon'!) 
Buy  territory,  always  means  the  servants  of  the  latter  Compa- 
ny, or  the  settlers,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Canadians  and 
Hutf-breeds. 


Jkiii 


79 


naign,)  his  lieutenant,  or  second  in  commanil,  under 
him.  When  this  organized  banditti  arrived  at  Por- 
tage des  PrairieSf  the  plunder  was  landed  from  the 
canoes,  and  the  six  hundred  bags  of  pemican,  toge- 
ther with  their  own  provisions,  were  formed  into  a 
sort  of  rampart  or  redoubt,  flanked  by  two  brass 
swivels,  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  T  <  Sel- 
kirk's settlement. 

Od  the  18th  of  June,  Cuthbert  Grant  i  rte, 
Fraser,  Hoole,  and  Thomas  M^Kaj,  wei  ^j  butii  otf, 
witi)  about  iseventj  men,  to  attack  the  colony  at  Red 
River.  Their  commander  in  chief,  Alexander  M*Do- 
nell,  in  the  meanwhile,  prudently  remained  where  he 
was,  together  with  several  of  his  officers,  and  about 
forty  men,  cautiously  barricaded  behind  his  portable 
redoubt  of  plundered  provisions,  and  protected  by 
artillery  which  had  been  stolen. 

On  the  20th  of  Jjne,  a  messenger  returned  from 
Cuthbert  Grant,  who  reported  that  his  party  had 
killed  Governor  Semple,  with  five  of  his  oflicers, 
and  sixteen  of  his  people ;  upon  which  M^Donell, 
Seraphim  Lamar,  and  all  the  other  officers,  shouted 
with  joy.  M^Doneil  then  went  to  the  rest  of  the 
men  who  had  remained  with  him,  and  announced  to 
them  the  news,  in  language  (as  sworn  to  by  Mr. 
Pambrun,)  which  we  will  not  attempt  to  translate, 
"  Sucre  nom  de  Dieu!  Bonnez  nouveiles,  Vingt-deux 
Anglois  de  tues  /"* 

It  is  not  improbable  that  those  individuals,  who 


h 


Sec  Appendix,  [V.] 


..  w^ilisr'B-w-'^- 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0     S"^! 


I.I 


2.5 


2.2 


'^    112.0 


1.8 


1.25  III  1.4 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


33  WIST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  US80 

(716)  872-4S03 


k\ 


fl^ 


8w 

have  shown  such  enmity  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  and 
hia  planSf  and  who  have  eagorlj  circulated  the  crj  of 
**  Colonization  being  at  all  times  unfavourable  to  the 
fur  trade/*  will  pronounce  the  deposition  of  Mr.  Pam- 
brun,  as  well  as  those  of  Lavigne,  Nolin,  and  others, 
to  be  mere  fabrications :  that  his  Lordship  has  been 
employed  in  examining  persons  at  Fort  William  upon 
his  own  affairs;  and  that  no  reliance  ought  to  bo 
placed  on  affidavits  taken  before  such  a  magistrate.* 
Unfortunately,  however,  for  such  persons,  and  for- 
tunately for  the  cause  of  truth,  among  other  docu- 
ments, are  produced  depositions  taken,  about  the 
same  time,  at  Montreal,  fifteen  hundred  miles  fromic 
Fort  William,  in  which  the  circumstances  are  con- 
firmed  by  persons  who  escaped  from  the  massacre. 
In  addition  to  the  information  contained  in  these 
documents,  a  statement  of  the  whole  transaction  was 
drawn  up,  and  signed  by  Mr.  Pritchard,  who  was 
present,  and  whose  life  was  saved,  with  great  diffi- 
culty, by  the  interference  of  one  of  the  Canadians  of 
the  hostile  party,  with  whom  he  had  been  previously 
acquainted.  Mr.  Pritchard  had  been  long  employed 
in  the  service  of  the  Nortii-West  Company,  and  had 
resided  upwards  of  thirteeen  years  at  the  Red  River. 
On  the  first  establishment  of  the  colony,  he  prefer- 
red settling  there  with  his  family,  and  cultivating  a 
farm,  to  continuing  in  the  service  of  the  Company, 
notwithstanding  he  had  received  from  them  strong 
assurance  of  promotion.  When  the  colony  was  broken 


See  Appendix,  [V.]  [W.]  [X.]  tc.  &c. 


V 


81 

up*  in  the  year  1815,  he  had  been  driven  from  it  with 
those  of  the  settlers  who  subsequently  retired  to  the 
further  end  of  Lake  Winnipic;  and  he  had  again 
returned  with  them  to  the  Red  River  in  the  autumn 
of  the  same  year. 

It  appears  that  Governor  Seniple  was  upon  the 
point  of  returning  from  the  Red  River  to  York  Fort 
in  Hudson's  Bay,  on  the  concerns  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  when  the  reports,  which  had  been  for 
some  time  in  circulation,  of  intended  hostility  against 
the  settlement,  began  to  increase  from  every  quarter. 
Measures  of  precaution  were  adopted,  and  a  watch 
regularly  kept  to  guard  against  surprise.  On  the 
17th  of  June,  two  Cree  Indians  who  had  escaped 
from  the  party  of  Canadians  and  BruUs  under  Mr. 
Alexander  M^Donell,  came  to  Mr.  Semple  at  Fort 
Douglas,  adjoining  the  settlement,*  and  told  him  that 
he  would  certainly  be  attacked  in  two  days  by  the 
Bois-6rul68,  commanded  by  Cuthbert  Grant,  Hoole, 
Eraser,  Bourrassa,  Lacerte,  and  Thomas  M^Kay,  all 
in  the  service  of  the  North-West  Company,  who 
were  determined  to  take  the  fort;  and  that,  if  any 
resistance  was  made,  neither  man,  woman,  or  child, 
would  escape.  Two  chiefs  of  the  Sautoux  Indians, 
hearing  also  of  the  intended  attack,  came  and  held  a 
council  with  Governor  Semple,  and  told  him,  in  a 
speech, "  they  were  come  to  take  their  father's  advice, 
and  wished  to  know  from  him  how  they  were  to  act ; 
that  they  were  certain  he  would  be  attacked,  and 


#■■ 


*  After  their  return  from  Jack  River  House,  the  settlers 
named  the  Governors  House,  at  the  settlement,  Fort  Doughu. 

M  ■"■•.;    - 


«» 


^!i 


Ai  '■  h^ 


■V 


¥ 


#  82  .       '    - 

that,  if  their  father  wanted  their  assistance,  they, 
and  tlieir  young  men,  would  be  ready  to  defend 
him/*  Governor  Semple  answered,  by  advising 
them  not  to  interfere :  "  But,*'  said  he,  **  as  we 
are  not  sure  of  what  may  be  the  will  of  our  Great 
Father,  I  now  give  you  a  supply  of  gunpowder,  that, 
in  case  of  my  destruction,  you  may  have  the  means 
of  procuring  subsistence,  for  yourselves  and  families, 
during  the  summer.**  Some  of  the  free  Canadians 
also  offered  to  join  him,  but  he  declined  their  ser> 
vices,  saying,  that  he  did  not  wish  them  to  fight 
against  their  countrymen. 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  19th  of  June,"  (says  ]M[r. 
Pritchard  in  his  narrative,)  "  a  man  in  the  watch-hcuse. 
called  out,  that  the  Half-breeds  were  coming.  The  go- 
vernor, some  other  gentlemen,  and  myself,  looked  through 
spy-glasses,  and  I  distinctly  saw  some  armed  people  on 
horseback  passing  along  the  plains.  A  man  then  called 
out,  they  (meaning  the  Half-breeds)  are  making  for  the 
settlers  ;  on  which  the  governor  said,  '  We  must  go  out 
and  meet  these  people  -,  let  twenty  men  follow  me.'  We 
proceeded  by  the  old  road  leading  down  the  settlement. 
As  we  were  going  along,  we  met  many  of  the  settlers  run- 
ning to  the  fort,  crying.  '  the  Half-breeds — the  Half- 
breeds.'  When  we  wert.  anced  about  three  quarters 
of  a  mile  along  the  t.ett>-ii.ent,  we  saw  some  people  on 
horseback  behind  a  point  of  woods.  On  our  nearer  ap- 
proach, the  party  seemed  more  numerous  ;  on  which,  the 
governor  made  i  halt,  and  sent  for  a  field-piece,  which  de- 
laying to  arrive,  he  ordered  us  to  advance.  We  had  not 
proceeded  far,  before  the  Half-breeds,  on  horseback,  with 
their  faces  painted  in  the  most  hideous  manner,  and  in  the 
dresses  of  Indian  warriors,  came  forward,  and  surrounded 
us  in  the  form  of  a  half-moon.     We  then  extended  our  line, 


a 


\jp.\ 


»~Sx'%^"'r.i\ 


and  moved  more  into  the  open  plain ;  and  as  they  advan- 
ced,  we  retreated  a  few  steps  backwards,  and  then  saw  a 
Canadian,  named  Boucher,  ride  up  to  us  waving  his  hand, 
and  calling  out,  '  What  do  you  want  ?'  the  governor  re- 
plied, '  What  do  you  want  ?'  To  which  Boucher  answer- 
ed, *  We  want  our  fort.' — The  governor  said,  '  Go  to 
your  fort.' — They  were,  by  this  time,  near  each  other, 
and  consequently  spoke  too  low  for  me  to  hear.  Being  at 
some  little  distance  to  the  right  of  the  governor,  I  saw  him 
take  hold  of  Boucher's  gun,  and  almost  immediately  a  ge- 
neral discharge  of  fire-arms  took  place ;  but  whether  it  be- 
gan on  our  side,  or  that  of  the  enemy,  it  was  impossible  to 
distinguish :  my  attention  was  then  directed  towards  my 
personal  defence.  In  a  few  minutes  almost  all  our  people 
were  either  killed  or  wounded.  Captain  Rogers  having 
fallen,  rose  up  again  and  came  towards  me,  when  not  see- 
ing one  of  our  party  who  was  not  either  killed  or  disabled, 
I  called  out  to  him,  <  For  God's  sake  give  yourself  up.' 
He  ran  towards  the  enemy  for  that  purpose,  myself  follow- 
ing him.  He  raised  un  his  hands,  and,  in  English  and 
broken  French,  called  out  for  mercy.  A  Half-breed  (son 
h(  Colonel  William  M'Kay)  shot  him  through  the  head,  and 
another  cut  open  his  belly  with  a  knife,  with  the  most 
horrid  imprecations.  Fortunately  for  me,  a  Canadian 
(named  Lavigne)  joining  his  entreaties  to  mine,  saved  me 
(though  with  the  greatest  difficulty)  from  sharing  the  fate 
of  my  friend  at  that  moment.  After  this,  I  was  rescued 
from  death,  in  the  most  providential  manner,  no  less  than  six 
different  times,  on  my  road  to,  and  at  the  Frog  Plain, 
(the  head-quarters  of  those  cruel  murderers.)  I  there 
saw  that  Alexander  Murray,  and  his  wife,  two  of  William 
Bannermaa's  children,  and  Alexander  Sutherland,  settlers, 
and  likewise  Anthony  M'Donell,  a  servant,  were  prisoners, 
having  been  taken  before  the  action  took  place.  With 
the  exception  of  myself,  no  quarter  was  given  to  any  of  us. 


\ 


"W 


84 

The  knife,  axe,  or  ball,  put  a  period  to  the  existence  of 
the  wounded ;  and  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  prac< 
tised  all  those  horrible  barbarities  which  characterise  the 
inhuman  heart  of  the  savage.  The  amiable  and  mild  Mr. 
Semple,  lying  on  his  side,  (his  thigh  having  been  broken,) 
and  supporting  his  head  upon  his  hand,  addressed  the  chief 
commander  of  our  enemies,  by  inquiring  if  he  was  Mr. 
Grant ;  and  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  *  I  am  not 
mortally  wounded,^  said  Mr.  Semple,  *  and,  if  you  could 
get  me  conveyed  to  the  fort,  I  think  I  should  live.'  Grant 
promised  he  would  do  so  ;  and  immediately  left  him  in  the 
care  of  a  Canadian,  who  afterwards  told,  that  an  Indian  of 
their  party  came  up  and  shot  Mr.  Semple  in  the  breast.  I 
entreated  Grant  to  procure  me  the  watch,  or  even  the  sealjB, 
of  Mr.  Semple,  for  the  purpose  of  transmitting  them  to  his 
friends,  but  I  did  not  succeed.  Our  force  amounted  to 
twenty^eight  persons,  of  whom  twenty-one  were  killed, 
and  one  wounded  ;  the  Governor,  Captain  Rogers,  Mr. 
James  White,  sui^eon,  Mr.  Alexander  M'Lean,  settler, 
Mr.  Wilkinson,  private  secretary  to  the  governor,  and 
Lieutenant  Holt  of  the  Swedish  navy,  and  fifteen  servants, 
were  killed.*  Mr.  J.  P.  Bourke,  storekeeper,  was 
wounded,  but  saved  himself  by  flight.  The  enemy,  I  am 
told,  were  sixty-two  persons,  the  greater  part  of  whom 
were  the  contracted  servants  and  clerks  of  the  North- 
West  Company.      They  had  one  man  killed,   and  one 


'^n 


*  Mr.  M'Lean,  who  was  killed  on  the  19th  of  June,  was  the 
principal  settler  in  the  colony,  and  the  same  person  who  had 
refused  the  large  bribe  l^^red  him  as  an  inducement  to  desert 
from  the  settlement  the  year  before.  See  Appendix,  [P.]  and 
{S.]  He  had  been  severely  wounded  in  the  attack  upon  the 
colony  iathe  preceding  summer.  The  servants  of  the  settlement, 
who  fell  on  the  19th  of  June,  were  seven  labourers  from  Ireland, 
three  from  the  Orkneys,  and  five  from  the  north  of  Scotland. 


jf^ 


85 


3  existence  of 
id  were  prac- 
iracterise  the 
and  mild  Mr. 
been  broken,) 
tssed  the  chief 
r  he  was  Mr. 
^e,  *  I  am  not 
,  if  you  could 
1  live.'    Grant 
left  him  in  the 
it  an  Indian  of 
the  breast.    I 
even  the  seals, 
ng  them  to  his 
i  amounted  to 
!  were  killed, 
1  Rogers,  Mr. 
'Lean,  settler, 
governor,  and 
[teen  servants, 
ekeeper,    was 
enemy,  I  am 
>art  of  whom 
f  the  North- 
ed, and  one 


June,  was  the 
»erson  who  had 
ment  to  desert 
ndix,  [P.]  and 
ittack  upon  the 
the  settlement, 
I  from  Ireland, 
of  Scotland. 


.wounded.  The  chiefs  who  headed  the  party  of  our  ene- 
my, were  Messrs.  Grant  and  Fraser,  Antoine  Hoole,  and 
Bourrassa ;  the  two  former  clerks,  and  the  two  latter  inter- 
preters, in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company.  On 
the  field  I  saw  six  of  the  North-West  Company's  Canadian 
servants ;  namely,  Boucher,  Morin,  Des  Champs,  Joseph 
Hesse,  Mageau,  and  Lavigne." 

By  the  deposition  of  Michael  Heden,  who  was 
close  to  Governor  Semple  during  this  horrible  trans- 
action, (and  to  whose  affidavit  particular  reference 
is  entreated,*)  it  appears  that  Boucher,  the  Cana- 
dian, advanced  in  front  of  his  party,  and,  in  an  inso- 
lent tone,  desired  to  know  what  he  (Mr.  Semple) 
was  about.  Nir.  Semple  desired  to  know  what  he, 
and  his  party,  wanted.  Boucher  said,  he  wanted 
his  fort^  The  governor  desired  him  to  go  ^o  his  fort 
— upon  which  Boucher  said  to  the  governor,  **  Why 
did  you  destroy  our  fort,  you  damned  rascal  ?'*  Mr. 
Semple  then  laid  hold  of  the  bridle  of  Boucher^s 
horse,  saying,  **  Scoundrel,  do  you  tell  me  so  ?'*  Up- 
on this,  Boucher  jumped  from  his  horse,  and  a  shot 
was  instantly  fired  by  one  of  Grant's  party  of  horse- 
men, which  killed  Mr.  Holt,  who  was  standing  near 
Governor  Semple.  Boucher  then  ran  to  his  party, 
and  another  shot  was  fired,  by  which  Mr.  Semple 
was  wounded.  The  Governor  immediately  cried  out 
to  his  men,  **  Do  what  you  can  to  take  care  of  your- 
selves.*' But,  instead  of  this,  his  party  appear  to 
have  crowded  about  him,  to  ascertain  what  injury 
he  had  met  with ; — and,  while  they  Were  thus  col- 
lected, the  Brules,  who  had  formed  a  circle  round 

*  See  Appendix,  [C.  C.J 


i  1 


^ 


86 


I  f 


them,  fired  a  general  volley  among  them*  hj  which 
the  greater  part  were  killed  or  wounded.  Those 
who  were  still  standing,  took  oflf  their  hats,  and 
called  for  mercy,  but  in  vain.  The  horsemen  gaU 
loped  forward,  and  butchered  them. 

Heden,  in  his  affidavit,  further  states,  that  he 
only  observed  three  Indians  among  this  party,  and 
he  saw  none  of  these  fire  a  shot,  though  he  kept 
his  eyes  upon  them  a  principal  part  of  the  time.<— 
In  the  confusion  of  such  a  business,  one  might  be  j 
disposed  to  doubt,  in  some  degree,  the  minute  ac- 
curacy of  the  deponent^s  observation ;  but  it  is  wor- 
thy of  remark,  that  his  deposition  CQrresponds  with 
that  of  Mr.  Pambrun,  who  mentions  that  there  had 
been  six  Indians  with  Mr.  Alexander  M*Donell,  at 
his  camp,  some  days  before ;  and,  it  may  be  recol- 
lected, that  two  of  these  had  deserted  from  him,  and 
brought  information  to  Mr.  Semple,  on  the  I7th  of 
June,  of  the  intended  attack. — ^The  matter  is  not  of 
much  importance,  except  to  show,  that  the  North- 
West  Company  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  few  In- 
dians to  join  them,  upon  whom  the  blame  might  be 
subsequently  thrown,  if  ever  there  should  be  a 
question  of  blame  on  the  subject.  At  the  time  of 
the  massacre,  there  was  an  encampment  of  Indians 
(Sautoux  and  Crees)  opposite  to  the  settlement, 
but  none  of  them  took  any  share  in  the  transaction. 
On  the  contrary,  they  lamented  deeply  what  had 
happened;  showing  much  kindness  towards  the  set- 
tlers, and  assisting  them  in  bringing  away,  for  in- 
terment at  the  fort,  some  of  the  dead  bodies  of 
those  who  had  fallen. 


W'-  ■  ■' 


87 

Immediately  after  the  massacret  Mr.  Pritchard  was 
taken  down  to  Frog  Plain,  a  short  way  below  the 
settlement,  and  where  Cuthbert  Grant  had  fixed  his 
head-quarters. 

"  When  I  was  at  the  Frog  Plain,  in  their  custody,^*  con- 
tinues Mr.  Pritchard  in  his  narrative,  "  Mr.  Grant  told  me, 
that  an  attack  would,  that  night,  be  made  upon  the  fort ; 
and  if  our  people  fired  a  single  shot,  a  general  massacre 
would  ensue.  '  You  see,'  observed  he,  '  the  little  quarter 
we  have  shown  you ;  and  now,  if  any  further  resistance  is 
made,  neither  man,  woman,  or  child,  shall  be  spared.' 
Fraser  added  in  French,  <  Mr.  Robertson  said  that  we  were 
blacksf  and  he  shall  see  that  our  hearts  will  not  belie  the 
colour  of  our  bodies.'  Being  fully  convinced  of  the  inevi- 
table destruction  of  these  poor  souls,  I  asked  Grant,  if  there 
were  any  means  by  which  the  lives  of  the  poor  women  and 
children  could  be  saved ;  I  intreated  him,  in  the  name  of 
his  deceased  father,  whose  countrywomen  they  were,  to 
take  pity,  and  spare  them.  He  then  said,  if  we  would  give 
up  all  public  property,  we  should,  be  allowed  to  depart 
in  peace,  and  that  he  would  give  us  a  safe  escort  un- 
til we  had  passed  the  North- West  Company's  track  in 
Lake  Winipic,  which  he  said  was  necessary  to  protect  us 
from  two  other  parties  of  Half-breeds,  that  were  momenta- 
rily expected  to  come  up  the  river,  one  of  which  he  said 
was  commanded  by  Mr.  William  Shaw,  and  the  other  by 
Simon,  son  of  the  Honourable  William  M'Gillivray.  This 
proposition  I  wished  to  carry  to  Mr.  M'Donell,  the  chief  of 
the  settlement ;  but  here  a  difficulty  arose,  as  Grant's  men 
would  not  consent  to  my  return.  I  addressed  myself  to 
them,  and  concluded  by  saying, '  Mr.  Grant,  you  know  me, 
and  I  am  sure  will  answer  for  my  return,  body  for  body,' 
to  which  he  assented.  Several  of  them  told  me  in  a  friend- 
ly way,  to  take  great  care  how  I  acted ;  that  I  well  knew 
that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  make  my  escape,  and  that 


88 

if  I  forfeited  my  word,  I  should  be  tortured  to  death  in  the 
most  cruel  manner.  These  people  were  greatly  disap- 
pointed  in  not  meeting  with  Mr.  Robertson,  who,  (as  they 
told  me,)  they  would  have  endeavoured  to  take  alive  ;  and 
after  flaying  him,  they  would  have  cut  his  body  into  small 
\\t»y  and  boiled  it  afterwards  for  the  dogs. 

"  On  my  arrival  at  the  fort,  what  a  scene  of  distress  pre- 
sented itself!  The  widows,  children,  and  relations  of  the 
tlain,  in  the  horrors  of  despair,  were  lamenting  the  dead, 
and  trembling  for  the  safety  of  the  survivors. 

"  I  must  here  observe,  that  when  I  was  allowed  to  leave 
the  Frog  Plain,  it  was  late  at  night,  and  that  Mr.  Grant  ac- 
companied me,  as  my  protector,  almost  to  the  spot  on  which 
I  had  seen  my  dearest  friends  fall  by  the  hands  of  the  mer- 
ciless savages.  The  shade  of  night  hid  from  my  view  what 
the  dawn  of  the  following  day  too  clearly  exposed,  their 
tnangled  and  disfigured  bodies.  From  what  I  saw,  and 
what  I  have  been  told,  I  do  not  suppose  that  more  than 
one-fourth  of  our  party  were  mortally  wounded  when  they 
fell,  but  were  most  inhumanly  butchered  afterwards. 

*'  After  having  made  three  trips  to,  and  from  the  Frog 
Plain,  Mr.  Sheriff  M'Donell,  (who  had  then  the  chaise  of 
the  settlement,)  and  the  Half-breed  chiefs,  came  to  an 
agreement,  in  substance  as  before  related.*  An  inventory 
of  the  property  being  taken,  the  whole  was  delivered  up 


*  "  When  Mr.  Pritchard  arrived  at  the  settlement,  be  found 
the  settlers  assembled  at  the  Governor's  house,  or  fort.  Upon 
his  stating  the  proposals,  which  had  been  sent  by  him,  for  their 
surrender,  they  declared  they  would  not  yield  to  the  conditions 
required.  Mr.  Sheriff  M'Donell,  therefore,  although  he  was 
well  aware  that  resistance  would  be  useless,  told  Mr.  Pritchard, 
that  he  could  not  consent  to  give  up  their  post,  while  the  men 
were  inclined  to  defend  it.  The  settlers,  however,  having  had 
time  to  reflect  on  the  dreadful  situation  to  which  the  women  and 


89 

to  Mr.  Cuthbert  Grant,  for  the  use  of  the  North-Wost 
Company,  each  ihect  of  the  inventory  being  ligned  •■  fol- 
lows : — 

'' '  Received  on  account  of  the  North-West  Company, 
by  me, 

CUTHBERT  GRANT, 
Clerk  of  the  Jf,  West  Co, 
Acting  for  the  Jf,  West  Company,'' 

"  In  two  days  we  were  ready  to  embark,  at  which  time 
Mr.  Grant  came  to  ub,  and  said  he  could  not  allow  us  to 
proceed,  as  Mr.  Alexander  M'Doncll  (the  North-West 
Company's  partner)  had  sent  an  order  for  our  detention 
until  his  arrival.  This  was  dreadful  news  to  us.  We  were 
without  arms,  standing  upon  the  beach,  surrounded  by  the 
murderers,  and  in  momentary  fear  of  our  wives  and  daugh- 
ters being  violated,  which  it  was  commonly  reported  would 
take  place.  The  day  before,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  set- 
tlers, I  had  been  twice  claiming  the  protection  of  Messrs. 
Grant  and  Fraser  on  that  head,  who  told  me  their  inten- 
tions were  only  in  regard  to  Hedcn's  wife;  at  the  same 
time  they  promised  me,  either  to  stop  with  us  themselves, 
or  send  such  men  on  whom  they  could  depend.  I  re- 
proached, intreated,  and  indeed  did  all  in  my  power  to  in- 
duce Grant  to  let  us  depart ;  at  last,  on  Mr.  SherifTM'Do- 
nelPs  observing  that  he  plainly  perceived  that  Mr.  Alex- 
ander M'Donell  (the  North-V/cit  partner)  wished  to  dc- 


chiTJren  would  inevitably  be  reduced,  should  their  resistance 
prove  unsuccessful,  came  next  morning,  and  gave  their  consent 
to  the  terms  which  Cuthbert  Grant  had  proposed.  BothBourke 
and  Heden,  however,  have  sworn,  in  their  affidavits,  that  the 
private  property  of  the  settlers  was  almost  all  taken  away  from 
tliem  by  force  after  the  capitulation.  .^y, 

N 


90 

fraud  (jlraiit  ol'  the  honour  of  the  day,  and  take  all  the 
praiie  to  himself,  (irant's  pride  was  hurt,  and  he,  in  his 
intemperate  manner,  said,  he  would  keep  his  word  in  spite 
of  M^Donell,  and  desired  us  to  depart  immediately  without 
waiting  for  an  escort,  which  he  said  he  would  send  aAer  us 
in  a  light  canoe.  We  scrambled  into  the  boats  and  put  ofT. 
Previous  to  the  embarkation,  I  received  a  protection  from 
Mr.  Grant,  as  follows : — 

"  This  is  to  certify,  that  Mr.  John  Pritchard  has  behaved 
himself  honourably  towards  the  North- West  Company. 
(Signed)        CUTHBERT  GRANT, 
Clerk  to  the  North-West  Company, ^^ 


H  . 


The  settlers,  labourers,  and  others  belonging  to 
the  colony,  with  their  families,  (in  all  nearly  two  hun- 
dred,) having  thus  embarked  in  their  boats,  for  the 
purpose  of  pursuing  their  voyage  to  the  coast  of 
Hudson^s  Bay,  proceeded  down  the  river,  and,  on 
the  second  day,  were  met  by  a  strong  party  of  ca- 
noes, headed  by  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod,  a  leading 
partner,  and  a  principal  agent  of  the  North- West 
Company,  a  "  Major  des  Tribus  Sauvages,  et  des 
pays  conquis,"*  and  a  Magistrate  for  the  Indian 
territory,  under  the  Canada  Jurisdiction  Act.t 

From  a  person  vested  with  such  authority,  the 
persecuted  colonists  might,  not  unreasonably,  have 
looked  in  their  distress,  for  some  little  aid  or  com- 
miseration.  Driven  from  their  lands  and  habitations 


*  See  note,  bottom  of  pag«  13. 
t  43d  Geo.  III.  c.  138. 


imr. 


-- *«i».M*»,ii 


91 

with  unheard  of  barbarity; — the  bodies  of  their  mai- 
sacred  fathen,  husbands,  brothers,  and  sons,  Ijing, 
many  of  them,  unburied  on  the  spot  where  they 
fell,* — it  would  have  been  natural  for  these  harrassed 
settlers  to  have  hailed,  with  some  faint  glimmering 
of  hope,  the  approach  of  one,  who,  to  other  means 
of  power  and  influence,  added  the  authority  of  a  Ma- 
gistrate.— Mr.  Norman  M^Leod  had  also  with  him 
about  ten  partners  of  the  powerful  commercial  body 
to  which  he  belonged,  whose  authority  would  have 
strengthened  his  own,  and  there  were,  in  the  ca- 
noes, nearly  an  hundred  armed  men  ready  to  act  in 
support  of  his  orders.  From  him,  therefore,  the  co- 
lonists might  naturally  have  expected  ^  some  of  those 
aids  and  comforts  which  are  derived  from  civil  so- 
ciety ;** — the  anticipated  deprivation  of  which  had 
raised,  in  this  country,  such  apprehension  among 
the  opposers  of  colonization,  and  had  called  forth, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  that  portion  of  the  **  North- 
West  Company's  compassion,"  which  appears  to 
have  been  consigned  to  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

As  soon  as  the  settlers  approached,  in  their  boats, 
to  Mr.  Norman  M'Leod's  party,  the  latter  set  up 
the  Indian  war-whoop,-r-and  the  first  interrogatory 

*  Bourke  and  Heden  both  state  in  their  affidavits,  that  the 
Indians  came  and  assisted  in  bringing  some  of  the  bodies  to  the 
fort  at  the  settlement,  and  also  aided  in  burying  them.  The 
latter  (Heden)  mentions  that  they  were  prevented  from  bring- 
ing them  all  in  from  fear  of  the  Brulcs,  and  that  the  bodies  "  re- 
mained on  the  ground,  a  prey  for  the  wild  beasts" — that  ground, 
which  Aloxander  M'Donell  had  vowed,  if  resistance  was  made 
by  thie  settlers,  should  be  "  drenched  with  their  blood." 


i- 


n 

put  by  the  magistrate  was,  **  whether  that  rascal 
and  scoundrel  Robertson  was  in  the  boats  ?"  In 
the  same  tone  it  was  asked,  if  Governor  Scrapie  was 
with  tbem ;  and,  when  his  fate  was  told  to  them, 
Mr.  Pritchard  was  ordered  locome  ashore,  and  the 
whole  party  was  disembarked  for  the  purpose  of 
having  examinations  taken  by  Mr.  M^Leod,  adcord- 
ing  to  the  due  and  regular  forms  of  law.  Instead, 
however,  o^  the  usual  symbols  of  Justice,  the  sword 
and  the  balance,  this  Magistrate  had  provided  him- 
self with  emblems  of  a  more' novel,  but  not  less  aj)- 
propriate,  description, — ^namely,  two  brass  field-' 
pieces,  which  had  been  stolen  from  the  Earl  of  Selw 
kirk  the  year  before !  Such  are  the  purposes  to 
which  the  Canada  Jurisdiction  Act  is  perverted ;  and 
such  the  persons  who,  under  the  fatal  provisions  of 
that  legislative  measure,  have  been,  but  too  often, 
appointed  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  Indian  territo- 
ries in  British  North  America. 

The  settlers  and  their  families  having  been  disem- 
barked, the  magistrate  commenced  his  judicial  ex- 
aminations by  a  general  search  into  all  the  trunks, 
boxes,  chests,  &c.  of  the  miserable  victims  whom  he 
had  got  within  his  grasp.  Books,  papers,  accounts 
letters,  &c.  (including  those  of  Governor  Semple, 
and  also  some  other  of  his  effects  which  had  been 
hitherto  saved,)  were  all  taken  from  them.  ^*  Dur- 
ing my  examination,"  says  Mr.  Pritchard,  **  Mr. 
M^Leod  sent  for  a'l  my  papers,  which  were  pe- 
rused by  himself  and  partners.  They  kept  of  them 
what  they  thought  proper,  and  returned  the  rest: 
Mr.   M'Leod  saying,   that  *  those  who  played  at 


■■pi«B»4e*»--  I--*.  „ffiffg.fi^.. 


bo\?1S}  must  expect  to  meet  with  rubbers.*  He  then 
gave  me  a  subpoena  from  the  court  of  Lower  Ca» 
nada,  requiring  my  attendance  for  the  Ist  of  Sep- 
tember, in  a  cause,  The  King  against  Spencer.  I 
was  then  ordered  back  to  a  tent,  and  soon  after  Mr. 
Sheriff  M^Donell  was  brought  in  as  a  prisoner, 
after  which  he  was  bailed  to  appear  the  Ist  of  Sep* 
tember,  1817,  at  Montreal,  if  required.  The  set- 
tlers were  detained  a  few  days  at  this  place,  and  as 
soon  as  they  were  gone,  Mr.  Bourke,  myself,  Pa- 
trick Corcoran,  Michael  Heden,  and  D.  M*Kay, 
were  placed  together  in  a  tent,  with  a  guard  of 
armed  men  put  over  us.  We  remained  here  five 
or  six  days,  treated  with  the  greatest  indignity,**  kc, 
&C.  &c. 

Mr.  Pritchard,  it  seems,  had  further  been  directed 
by  Mr.  Norman  M*Leod,  to  write,  and  deliver  to 
him,  a  narrative  of  what  occurred  on  the  19th  of 
June,  the  day  of  the  massacre.  **  You  have  drawn 
up  a  pretty  paper!"  said  the  Justice,  **You  had 
better  take  care  yourself,  or  you  will  get  into  a 
scrape.**  *^I  replied,**  continues  Mr.  Pritchard,  **  what 
I  have  written.  Sir,  is  truth  j  I  know  not  what  infor- 
mation you  want.  You  had  better  put  questions  to 
me,  and  which  I  promise  I  will  truly  answer.**  "  Yes, 
yes,**  was  his  reply,  and  ordered  me  to  send  to  him 
D.  M^Kay,  who  returned  with  a  subpcena  against 
Corcoran  for  felony.  Corcoran  and  Heden  were 
likewise  served  with  subpoenas  against  Mr.  Bourke 
for  felony.  After  these  judicial  proceedings,  a  par- 
ty of  Half-breeds  came  into  our  prison,  and  put 
irons  upon  the  hands  of  Mr.  Bourke,  saying,  that 


J 


94 

they  did  that  of  their  own  accord  as  a  punishment 
for  his  treatment  of  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron.  I  must 
here  observe,  that  Mr.  M*Leod  the  magistrate,  and 
several  of  his  partners,  were  then  in  the  fort,  and, 
of  course,  must  have  sanctioned  this  act  of  the  Half- 
breeds,  which  was  much  aggravated  bj  Mr. 
Bourke^s  being  so  disabled  from  dressing  his  wound, 
which  was  still  in  a  bad  state.* 

Michael  Heden  was  also  examined  by  Mr.  Norman 
M'Leod  about  the  late  transactions  at  Red  River : 
but  the  Justice,  being  no  better  pleased  with  the 
answers  given  by  him  than  with  those  of  Mr. 
Pritchard,  told  hira  "  they  were  all  lies ;  but  that  to 
make  hiui  tell  the  truth,  he  would  have  him  put  in 
irons  at  Fort  William;"  and  his  worship  was  proba- 
bly as  good  as  his  word :  at  least,  it  appears,  by  He- 
den^s  affidavit,  that  shortly  after  he  got  to  Fort  Wil-^ 
liam,  he  was  thrown  into  a  most  horrid  prison,  and 
placed  in  strict  confinement.  The  grand  council  at 
that  place,  it  seems,  deemed  it  adviseable,  that,  in- 
stead of  his  being  any  longer  forcibly  detained  as  a 
witness  for  the  Crown,  he  should  himself  be  made 
the  subject  of  a  criminal  prosecution.  Accordingly, 
Mr.  M'Gillivray,  who  was  then  on  the  spot,  issued  a 
warrant  to  commit  him.  By  Heden^s  deposition,  it 
would  appear,  that  this  additional  severity  was  re- 
sorted to,  in  consequence  of  a  step  which  he  had  ta- 


*  .For  two  days  after  the  massacre,  Mr.  Bburke  could  get  no 
assistance  for  his  wound,  till  two  Indians  came  and  kindly  dress- 
ed it  for  him.     See  Appendix,  [B.  B.]  page  Hi. 


95 


ken  with  the  view  of  saving  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  from 
assassination.* 

A  warrant  was  also  issued  by  Mr.  M'Leod  against 
Mr.  Bourke— who,  being  first  robbed  of  his  clothes, 
watch,  and  case  of  mathematical  instruments,  and 
put  in  irons,  was  afterwards  carried  down  to  Fort 
William  on  the  top  of  the  luggage  in  a  canoe,  with- 
out any  attention  being  paid  to  his  wound  during  that 
long  journey.  In  short,  (for  it  is  unnecessary  further 
to  report  these  law  ccues,)  the  worthy  magistrate 
for  the  Indian  territory,  closed  his  sessions  by  se- 
curing some  of  the  settlers  by  warrants,  and  some  by 
gubptmas :  that  is  to  say,  in  order  to  insure  the  sub- 
sequent appearance  of  the  witnesses,  to  give  their  tes- 
timony in  court  before  the  judge,  they  were,  in  the 
meanwhile,  made  close  prisoners  by  the  justice! 
The  parties  who  were  to  be  prosecuted,  and  those 
who  were  to  be  evidence  for  the  prosecution,  were 
alike  deprived  of  their  liberty ;  and,  in  order  that 
they  might  become  better  acquainted  with  each 
other,  they  were  all  imprisoned  together  in  the  same 
place — ^with  a  guard  set  over  them,  composed  of 
those  very  rufiians  by  whom  their  friends  had  been 
butchered,  and  from  whom  they  themselves  had, 
almost  mirf  .ulously,  escaped  at  the  time  of  the 
massacre.  ^ 

In  the  whole  of  these  proceedings,  there  appears 
such  a  horrible  mixture  of  mock  judicial  solemnity, 
and  real  cruelty ;  such  a  medley  of  folly  and  atroci- 


'     \ 


/', 


!  <l 


*  See  Bourke *a  and  Heden'o  Depositions.    Appendix,  [6.  6.] 
page  liv.  and  [C.  C]  page  lix. 


^K 


xr:^ 


96 

tji  of  the  semblance  of  law*  and  the  substance  of 
injustice,  as  might,  indeed,  stagger  the  belief  of  any 
one  who  has  not  had  an  opportunity  of  perusing  the 
documents  which  have  been  collected. 


i 


) 


The  rest  of  the  settlers  and  their  families,  were 
permitted  to  proceed  on  their  dreary  voyage,  after 
haying  been  thus  unnecessarily  detained  for  several 
days,  consuming  the  scanty  stock  of  provisions 
they  had  with  them,  which,  as  Heden  states  in 
his  deposition,  was  not  sufficient  to  last  them  one 
quarter  of  their  journey  to  the  coast.  No  proposals 
were  now  held  out,  as  in  the  year  before,  of  free 
conveyance  to  Canada.  No  gratuitous  offer  of  lan^s 
in  the  Upper,  or  Lower  Province.  No  high  wages ; 
no  flattering  encouragement ;  none  of  those  **  aids 
and  comforts^'  which  were  last  year  to  be  derived 
from  the  boasted  '*  compassion  of  the  North- West 
Company.'^  Insulted,  plundered,  and  robbed ;  de- 
prived of  the  protection  of  their  nearest  and  dearest 
relations,  some  by  the  fury  of  a  merciless  banditti^ 
and  others  by  the  callous  and  cold-blooded  perse- 
cution of  a  magistrate,  they  set  out  on  their  long 
and  dismal  journey  to  Hudson^s  Bay.*     Of  these 


*  To  notice  individuel  cases  of  severity  amid  such  a  mass  of 
injustice,  would  be  a  useless  task — but  it  may  be  mentioned, 
that,  in  consequence  of  these  proceedings  of  Mr.  M'Leod,  Mr. 
Pritchard,  (without  any  charge  against  him  whatever,  but  merely 
by  a  citation  as  a  witness,)  was  forcibly  separated  from  his  wife, 
though  she  was  then  far  advanced  in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  and 
who  (as  he  states  in  his  narrative)  never  expected  to  sec  him 

-  1      ■■■*} 


97 

people,  no  certain  intelligence  has  since  been  recei- 
ved in  this  country ;  and  those  who  ha?e  the  best 
means  of  forming  an  opinion  upon  the  subject,  look 
for  the  accounts  of  what  they  have  since  suffered, 
with  the  most  serious  apprehension. 

What  has  been  already  Rtated,  might  well  raise  a 
strong  suspicion,  that,  although  Mr.  Norman  M*Leod 
did  not  reach  the  Red  River  soon  enough  to  share 
in  the  actual  destruction  of  the  settlement,  he  was 
on  full  and  rapid  march  for  that  purpose.  There 
could  have  been  no  other  object  in  the  numerous 
armed  band  of  partners,  clerks,  half-breeds,  &c.  he 
brought  with  him.  It  was  evidently  a  preconcerted 
plan,  that  Mr.  Alexander  M^Donell  was  to  pour 
down  upon  the  colony  his  grand  levy  of  Bois-Brules 
from  the  North,  or  upper  country,  while  Mr.  Norman 
M^Leod  was  to  advance  against  the  settlement  from 
another  quarter.  The  latter,  indeed,  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  supposed  that  M'Donell  had  collected 
80  large  a  force  as  he  had  actually  assembled.  At 
least,  when  the  ruffians,  after  they  had  driven  off  the 
settlers,  came  down  the  Red  River  to  pay  their  re- 
spects to  the  **  major  des  tribus  sauvages,  et  des 
pays  conquis,*'  he  graciously  told  them,  that  he  had 


1 


again.  Heden,  his  fellow  prisoner,  against  whom  also  there 
was  no  accusation  whatever,  and  who  was  merely  cited,  in  a 
similar  manner,  as  a  witness,  (See  his  subpoena  fit  the  end  of  Ap- 
pendix, [C.  C.])  was  likewise  separated  from  his  wife,  who,  as 
admitted  by  the  Bruld  leaders,  Grant  and  Fraser,  had  been 
particularly  selected  bj  the  banditti  as  the  intended  object  of 
their  brutal  violation. 

0 


98 


not  expected  to  find  so  many,  and  that  he  regretted 
he  had  not  brought  presents  of  clothing  sufficient  to 
reward  all  of  them  for  their  services ;  assuring  them, 
at  the  same  time,  that  those  who  did  not  then  receive 
their  remuneration,  should  have  it  by  the  autumn  ca- 
noes of  the  Company.*  Some  of  those  who  were  en- 
gaged in  the  massacre,  and  also  in  the  robberies  at 
Qui  Appelle,  and  Brandon  House,  received  their 
clothing  afterwards  at  Fort  William,  as  appears  by 
Mr.  Pambrun's  deposition.  Pambrun  also  states, 
that  a  Council  was  held  at  Red  River,  between 
M*Leod  and  those  Bruits,  and  that  he  received  them 
with  open  arms,  and  made  them  a  regular  speech;  at 
which,  however,  Pambrun  was  not  permitted  to  be 
present.  But  Lavigne,  (the  Canadian  to  whom  Mr. 
Pritchard  owed  his  iife  at  the  time  of  the  massacre) 
was  present,  and  has  reported,  in  his  deposition,  Mr. 
Norman  M*Leod's  harangue  to  the  banditti.f 

The  circumstance  of  Mr.  M^Leod  having  thus  cor- 
dially received,  and  rewarded,  those  persons  who 
were  active  in  the  destruction  of  the  colony,  instead 
of  taking  measures  to  have  the  whole  matter  tho- 
roughly and  legally  investigated,  may,  of  itself,  be 
considered  as  strong  presumptive  proof  of  what  he 


*  It  appears  by  Blondeau'iJ  evidence,  that  Mr.  M'Leod  distri- 
buted, as  rewards  to  the  ruffians  of  the  1 9th  of  June,  not  only 
what  be  had  brought  with  him  to  the  Red  River,  but  also  arti- 
cles of  clothing,  &c.  which  had  been  seized,  after  the  massa- 
cre, from  I^ord  Selkirk's  stores  at  the  settlement.  This  was 
certainly  a  very  cheap  mode  of  paying  them  for  their  services. 
See  Appendix,  [Y.] 

t  See  Appendix,  [W.]  page  xxxvii. 


99 


was  himself  preparing  to  execute.  There  is,  how- 
ever*  other  evidence  of  his  hostile  intentions  against 
the  settlement  It  appears  by  Mr.  Bourke's  depo- 
sition, that,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  Fort  Wil- 
liam, as  a  prisoner,  he  overheard  a  conversation 
which  took  place  between  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell, 
and  another  partner,  who  had  come  up  with  the  ex- 
pedition under  Mr.  M^Leod,  in  which  they  mutual- 
ly talked  of  the  different  measures  by  which  it  had 
been  proposed  to  effect  the  destruction  of  the  colo- 
ny. From  what  was  then  said,  it  may  be  inferred, 
that  M^DdnelPs  plan  was  to  starve  the  settlers,  and 
M*Leod^s  to  make  a  forcible  attack  upon  them.* 

In  addition  to  this,  Charles  Bruce,  whom  Mr. 
Miles  Macdonell  took  with  him,  last  summer,  to  the 
Red  River,  as  an  interpreter  •f  the  Sautoux  lan- 
guage, has  deposed,  that  they  met,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  several  of  the  Sautoux  Indians  of  the  country 
about  Lac  la  Pluie,  who  informed  them,  that  Mr. 
Norman  M^Leod,  in  his  way  up,  had  assembled  the 
Indians  of  that  neighbourhood,  and  proposed  to  them 
to  go  up  with  him  to  the  Red  River,  to  release  Mr. 
Duncan  Cameron ;  and  that  if  he  (Cameron)  was  not 
given  up,  they  would  take  him  by  force,  and  would 


*  See  Appendix,  [B.  B.l  page  liv.  Alexander  M'Doneirs  in- 
tentioo  of  starving  the  colony  into  submission,  is  not  only  con- 
firmed by  Bourke's  deposition,  but  also  by  the  fact  of  his  ha- 
ving robbed  the  settlers  of  the  six  hundred  bags  of  provisions, 
which  was  intended  for  their  use,  and  that  of  the  servants  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  See  also  Appendix,  [V.]  page 
xxxiii. 


t    : 


100 

give  the  Indians^  for  thoir  trouble,  every  thing  which 
might  be  found  in  the  fort.  These  Indians  further 
said,  that  about  twenty  of  their  nation  had  a;ccord- 
ingly  joined  M'Leod^s  party,  some  in  their  own  ca- 
noes, and  some  in  those  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny. This  statement  was  confirmed  by  others  of  tho 
Sautoux  nation.  Another  band  from  the  same  quar- 
ter, said,  that  five  Indians  had  likewise  been  prevail- 
ed upon  by  another  partner  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, two  days  before,  to  accompany  him  to  the  Red 
River,  where  Mr.  Norman  M*Leod,  and  many  of  the 
other  partners,  were  then  assembling.* 

But,  if  any  doubts  should  still  remain  of  the  views 
of  Mr.  Norman  M*Leod,  they  will  probably  be  re- 
moved by  the  perusal  of  the  following  letter,  address- 
ed by  him,  and  several  other  partners,  who  were  then 
stationed,  in  the  service  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny, at  their  trading  post  at  the  Fond  du  Lac  Superior. 

"  Fort  William,  3d  June,  1816. 
"  Gentlemgk, 

"  Our  intelligence  from  the  Red  River  is  very  li- 
mited ;  but  what  we  have  heard  gives  us  (much  uneasi- 
ness ;  and,  after  various  consultations,  we  have  come  to 
the  resolution  of  forwarding  au  express  to  you,  to  request 
you  will,  as  soon  as  possible,  assemble  as  many  of  the  In- 
dians as  you  can,  by  any  means,  induce  to  go  to  the  Red 
River  to  meet  us  there.  We  would  suggest  and  require, 
that  Messrs.  Morrison  and  Roussin  should  head  and  accom- 
pany the  Indians.  Roe  we  expect  to  see  at  Lac  la  Pluie, 
and  wc  shall  not  fail  to  send  him  also  to  assist  Mr.  Morrison 


*  See  Appendix,  [A. A.] 


lai 


liing  which 
ana  further 
ad  a;ccord< 
lir  own  ca- 
8t  Coinpa- 
bers  of  tho 
same  quar- 
3en  prevail- 
West  Corn- 
to  the  Red 
many  of  the 

[)f  the  views 
ibly  be  re- 
er,  address- 
o  were  then 
est  Compa- 
,c  Superior. 

ine,  1816. 

sr  is  very  li- 
luch  uneasi- 
ive  come  to 
I,  to  request 
^y  of  the  In- 
to the  Red 
ind  require, 
and  accom- 
|ac  la  Pluie, 
[r.  Morrison 


and  Mr.  Rouisin.  We  also  mean  to  take  a  few  of  (he  I^c 
ia  Pluie  Indians  along  with  us.  We  shall,  and  will,  be 
guarded  and  prudent ;  we  shall  commit  no  extravagances, 
but  we  must  not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  imposed  upon  ;  nor 
can  we  submit  quietly  to  the  wrongs  heaped  upon  us  by  a 
lawless,  unauthorized,  and  inveterate  opponent  in  trade. 

<«  Vou  will  not  hesitate  to  explain  to  the  Indians  the  pur- 
pose for  which  we  want  them  to  meet  us ;  possibly,  and 
most  probably,  their  appearance  may  suffice  ;  but  in  any 
case  they  shall  be  well  and  fully  recompensed  for  their 
trouble.  You,  who  know  the  Indian  character  so  well, 
make  use  of  that  experience  to  collect  as  many  as  you  can 
in  a  shoti:  time,  from  fifteen  to  twenty,  upwards,  to  one 
hundred. 

"  You  will  explain  to  the  Chief,  that  we  have  king's 
officers  and  a  few  soldiers  along  with  us,  so  that  there  is 
not  the  least  doubt  of  the  justice  of  our  cause.  We  start 
from  hence  to-morrow  in  five  light  canoes  ;  upwards  of 
fifty  men  in  all ;  and  I  think  we  shall  be  in  Red  River  about 
the  17th  of  June,  where  we  shall  have  to  meet,  if  not  all 
that  we  expect,  at  least  Mr.  Morrison  and  Mr.  Roussin, 
with  a  few  Indians,  as  an  avant  garde. 

"  Mr.  Grant  will  take  the  whole  weight  and  trouble  of 
the  affairs  of  the  department  on  himself,  no  doubt,  and  give 
Messrs.  Morrison  and  Roussin  all  the  assistance  the  depart- 
ment can  afford. 

"  Since  writing  the  foregoing,  Mr.  Parries  has  determin- 
ed to  go  to  assist  you,  and  proceed  as  quickly  as  possible  to 
Red  River.  I  am  convinced  you  will  be  most  happy  to 
have  his  co-operation  and  aid,  which  you  will  find  most 
useful.  Some  articles  that  you  may  stand  most  in  need  of 
are  also  sent. 

"  The  letters  written  yesterday,  if  Mr.  Parries  overtakes 
the  canoe,  he  will  take.  Positively,  no  courier,  or  letters, 
from  the  Hudsou's  Bay  Company,  must  be  allowed  tu 


r^-:*!: 


'<^-':-%i^:SKA;i:.»* 


102 

pua ;  they  must  all  be  sent  to  this  place.  A  great  deal 
depends  on  your  exertions,  gentlemen ;  and  we  have  great 
confidence  in  the  known  influence  of  Messrs.  Morrison  and 
RouBsin  over  the  natives. 

With  much  esteem, 

We  remain,  gentlemen, 

Your  most  obedient  servants, 


(Signed) 


"  Mefgrs,  Grant,  MorriiOHt 
and  Roussin,^^ 


A.  N.  M'LEOD, 

^genl  JV.  fV,  Co. 
R.  HENRY, 
JOHN  M'LAUGHLIN. 


The  reader,  in  perusing  this  letter,*  will,  doubt- 
less, have  remarked  bow  strongly  it  corroborates  the 
declaration  of  the  Ghipewa  Chief,  (taken  before  the 
Council  of  the  Indian  Department  in  Canada,)  in 
which  he  states  the  attempts  made  by  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  the  bribes  offered  to  him,  to  stir 
up  the  Indians  of  the  Fond  du  Lac  country,  to  com- 
mit hostilities  against  the  Red  River  Settlement.t 
It  also  completely  confirms  Bruce's  deposition,  in 
which  it  is  stated,  that  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod  had 
prevailed  upon  a  party  of  the  Lac  la  Pluie  Indians 
to  join  him  and  the  other  partners  of  the  Company, 
in  their  expedition  to  the  Red  River.l  What  the 
object  of  that  expedition  was,  may  be  easily  supposed, 
if,  in  addition  to  the  other  proofs,  reference  be  had 


*  This  letter  has  been  given  id  by  two  of  the  persons  to 
whom  it  was  addressed,  and  is  referred  to  in  declarations 
drawn  up,  and  respectively  signed  by  them. 

t  See  Appendix,  [U.]  J  See  Appendix,  [A.  A.] 


*  . 


K  great  deal 
re  have  great 
Morrison  and 


Ultfl, 

OD, 
r.  W.  Co. 

liUGHLIN. 


»  will,  doubt- 
Toborates  the 
en  before  the 
I  Canada,)  in 
i)y  the  North- 
to  hiiDf  to  stir 
intry,  to  com- 
Settlementt 
deposition,  in 
M^Leod  had 
Pluie  Indians 
the  Company, 
I4    What  the 
[sily  supposed, 
Tcnce  be  had 


the  penons  to 
in   declarations 

Icndix,  [A.  A.] 


103 

to  the  deposition  of  Sa^  jr,aclerk  and  interpreter  01 
the  North-West  Company,  who  was  employed  at 
Lac  la  Pluie  by  Mr.  M^Leod  to  confer  privately  with 
one  of  the  Indian  chiefs,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether 
he  and  his  warriors  would  accompany  them.  Having 
obtained  the  chief*s  assent  to  the  proposal,  all  the 
Indians  about  the  place  were  immediately  invited  to 
a  Council,  at  which  Mr.  M^Leod,  and  some  of  his 
partners,  were  present  Liquor  and  tobacco  having 
been  provided,  and  placed  before  the  Indians,  Sayer, 
as  interpreter,  was  directed  by  Mr.  M^Leod  to  make 
a  Speech  to  them.  The  result  was,  that  the  chief, 
with  a  party  of  Indians,  joined  M'Leod,  and  pro- 
ceeded with  him  towards  the  Red  River.  Sayer  has 
further  deposed,  ^  that  the  expressions  which  he  was 
instructed  to  use  in  the  speech,  were  such  as  the  In- 
dians would  certainly  understand  as  implying  an  in- 
struction to  go  to  war  against  the  opponents  of  the 
North-West  Company."* 

There  is  another  circumstance,  the  proof  of  which 
is  most  strongly  confirmed  by  the  contents  of  Mr. 
M*Leod's  (and  his  partners)  letter  above  quoted  ; 
namely,  the  anxiety  which  has  been  all  along  shown 
by  the  North-West  Company,  that  some  of  the  na- 
tive Indians  should  be  present  at  the  acts  of  aggres- 
sion against  the  colony,  were  it  only  as  spectators. 
This  seems  to  have  been  a  constant  object  of  the 
Company.  "  Possibly,"  say  these  partners,  *^  and 
most  probably,  their  appearance  may  suffice  ;  but,  in 
any  case,  they  shall  be  well  and  fully  recompensed," 

*  See  Appendix,  [E.  E.] 


■'*m»'m-- 


tit 


I  ! 


Ice.  d(c.  When  unable  to  instigate  the  native  In* 
diant  to  actual  aggressionv  the  next  aim  of  the  Com* 
pany  hai  been  to  get  them  to  be  witneiies  of  any 
hostile  proceedings ;  thus  to  serve  a  double  purpose 
— to  raise  alarm  in  the  minds  of  the  European  set* 
tiers,  and  to  furnish  an  opportunity  of  ascribing  what- 
ever mischief  miglit  occur,  to  the  alleged  hostility  of 
the  Indians. 

As  an  additional  proof  of  this,  it  is  worth  while  to 
notice  the  manner  in  which  the  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  Governor  Serople  and  his  party  was  first 
transmitted  to  this  country. 

The  earliest  accounts  which  arrived  of  that  event, 
were  conveyed  in  two  letters  from  the  agents  of  the 
North-West  Company  in  Canada,  to  their  corres* 
ponding  agents  in  London.  The  one  was  dated  from 
Montreal,  the  17th  of  August — the  other  was  from 
Mr.  William  M'Gillivray,  dated  Fort  William,  the 
17th  of  July  last.  To  those  who  considered  with 
any  degree  of  attention,  the  purportof  these  accounts, 
(and  to  which  a  very  free,  and  a  very  premature 
circulation,  was  given  at  the  time,)  it  appeared,  that 
although  the  melancholy  event  could  scarcely  be  dis* 
believedf  the  story  itself  bore,  in  many  respects,  a 
very  dubious  appearance.  For  a  time,  it  produced, 
however,  the  effect  expected  from  it,  and  furnished 
the  means  of  spreading  calumny,  and  misrepresen- 
tation against  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  and  his  plans  of 
colonization. 

The  letter  from  the  agents  at  Montreal  stated, 
among  other  things,  that  *'  Lord  Selkirk^s  colony  on 
the  Red  River  has  again  been  broken  up,  owing 


to  the  mad  and  infatuated  violence  of  Governor 
Semple  and  his  people,  who  fired  upon  a  partjr  of 
Indiani  conveying  provisiuiib  to  meet  the  North- 
West  Company^a  canoet  from  the  interior.  The  In- 
diana returned  the  fire,  and  rushing  in  upon  Samplers 
party,  put  the  whole,  including  himself,  (about  twen- 
ty in  all,)  to  death,  excepting  one  man,  who  escaped, 
wounded,  in  an  ammunition  cart.  The  Indians  im- 
mediately after,  ordered  away  all  the  settlers,  with 
an  injunction  never  to  return,  at  the  peril  of  their 
lives.  They  offered  them  no  personal  violence,  and 
permitted  them  to  carry  away  their  private  effects, 
but  retained  the  Governor's  and  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany's property,  which  the  Indiaas  divided,"  &c.  &c 
&c.,  and  the  letter  concluded  with  the  old  story  of 
the  compassion  of  the  jyorth-  West  Company :  "  We 
lament  the  loss  of  life  by  such  mad  projects,  which 
must  open  the  eyes  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
and  compel  the  interference  of  Government." 


In  this  short  extract,  the  reader  has  probably  re- 
marked, that  the  Indians  are  distinctly  repeated  no 
less  than  four  times,  as  being  the  persons  exclusively 
engaged  in  this  act  of  hostility,  or  rather  (as  the 
writers  would  have  it)  of  self-defence.  It  was  evi- 
dently a  main  object  of  this  story,  that  what  had 
occurred  should  be  ascribed,  in  this  country,  to  Indian 
hostility:  but  the  tale  was  very  ill  told.  No  one 
who  knew  any  thing  of  the  state  of  that  country,  or 
of  the  friendly  conduct  which  the  native  tribes  of 
Indians  had  alway!^  shown  towards  the  European 


106 


settlers,  gave  credit  to  the  report  of  warfare  having 
been  carried  on  between  them.  At  all  events,  it  ap- 
peared a  very  unaccountable  part  of  the  story,  that 
the  savages,  after  being  thus  wantonly  fired  upon, 
should,  on  gaining  the  victory,  immediately  throw 
aside  the  "  indiscriminating  hatchet," — and,  in  place 
of  scalping  man,  woman,  and  child,  sit  cooll;  down, 
like  prize  agents,  draw  up  inventories  of  the  cap* 
tured  property,  lay  aside  one  portion,  as  being  public 
stores,  for  the  use  of  the  captors,  and  generously  give 
up  another,  as  private  eifects,  to  the  vanquished ! 
Those  also  who  had  known  Governor  Semple,  were 
confident  that  he  was  not  a  man  to  have  acted,  towards 
the  unoffending  Indians,  with  that  "  mad  and  infa* 
tuated  violence,'*  thus  ascribed  to  him;  a  charge, 
which,  in  the  absence  of  all  evidence,  and  Mr.  Sem- 
ple no  longer  alive  to  answer  it,  ought  not  to  have 
been  so  wantonly,  unjustly,  and  ungenerously,  level- 
led against  him.  An  unfortunate  infatuation  may, 
indeed,  with  some  apparent  justice,  be  ascribed  to 
him,  during  these  last  acts  of  his  life ;  but,  it  was  the 
infatuation  of  a  brave  and  generous  mind.  Too 
confident  in  his  belief  that  the  justice  of  his  cause, 
and  the  bravery  of  his  associates,  would  be  more 
than  sufficient  to  overawe  the  hired  banditti  assem* 
bled  to  oppose  him,  he  had  declined  the  proffered 
aid  of  those  free  Canadians  who  had  become  attach- 
ed to  the  settlement,  as  well  as  of  the  native  Indians, 
who  had  voluntarily  offered  to  come  forward  and  as- 
sist him.* 


*  s 


ce  piige  8-. 


107 

The  other  letter,  which  also  brought  intelligence 
of  these  occurrences  to  this  country,  was  penned  at 
Fort  William  by  Mr.  William  M'Gillivray.  His 
story  was  better  put  together  than  that  composed  by 
the  Company's  agents,  then  at  Montreal;  and  no 
wonder*  for  he  had  with  him,  at  the  time,  one  of 
his  partners,  who  had  just  returned  from  the  Red 
River,  and  who,  knowing  the  facts  of  the  case, 
could  easily  assist  him  in  mixing  up  such  a  com- 
position of  what  had  occurred,  with  what  had  not 
occurred,  as  might  answer  the  purpose,  if  not  of 
misleading  his  Majesty's  Government,  (to  whom  the 
letter  was  submitted  on  the  part  of  the  North- 
West  Company,)  at  least  of  bringing  odium  upon 
Lord  Selkirk,  and  his  plans.  The  detail  of  Mr. 
M'Gillivray's  account,  it  would  be  superfluous  to 
enter  upon.  The  substance  is  comprised  in  that 
part  of  the  deposition  of  Mr.  Bourke,  in  which 
he  swears  to  a  conversation  he  overheard  between 
two  of  the  partners  of  the  North-West  Company, 
wherein  one  of  them,  Alexander  M'Donell,  stated, 
that,  although  the  sending  down  the  Half-breeds  was 
certainly  carrying  things  to  an  extremity — "It  might 
be  said,  that  Governor  Semple,  and  those  with  him, 
had  gone  out  to  attack  them,  (the  Ilalf-breeds)  nnd 
met  their  fate."*  This  shrewd  suggestion  of  that 
able  partisan,  M'Donell,  contains  the  groundwork 
of  every  thing  detailed  in  Mr.  M'Gillivray's  letter, 
which  finished  with  a  climax  not  unworthy  of  one  of 
those  "  Heads  of  the  North-W^est  Company,  whose 

*  See  Appendix,  [B.  B.]  page  liv. 


fif'' 


108 


t 


honourable  characlerf  and  liberal  principles^'  we 
have  seen  so  highly  rated  in  the  year  181^,  by  the 
Provincial  Government  of  Canada — namely,  that 
he  (M'Gillivray)  thought  it  very  fortunate  that  none 
of  the  people  belonging  to  the  JVorth-  West  Company 
were  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  spot,  at  the  time, 
otherwise  the  blame  would  have  been  thrown  upon  them, 
as  usual! 

This  restless  anxiety  to  make  the  North-West  Com- 
pany appear  innocent,  before  there  was  any  accu- 
sation of  guilt,  raised  a  strong,  and  (as  it  has  since 
proved)  a  well-founded,  suspicion,  that  the  persons,  of 
whom  Mr.  M^Gillivray  asserted  none  to  have  been 
within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  scene  of  aggression, 
were,  in  fact,  not  only  then  upon  the  spot,  but  were 
themselves  the  actual  aggressors. 

The  anxiety,  indeed,  which  the  principal  Agent  of 
the  Company  in  Canada  felt  on  the  subject,  cannot 
be  better  displayed  than  in  his  own  words,  by  which 
it  will  appear,  that  he  anticipated,  with  no  small 
degree  of  alarm,  the  attempts  which  might  be  made 
to  discover  the  truth,  and  to  expose  it. 

Upon  the  1 8th  of  July,  the  day  after  he  wrote  that 
letter  from  Fort  William,  which  was  laid  by  his 
partners  before  His  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State,  he 
addressed  another,  from  the  same  place,  to  a  gentle- 
man then  at  the  Sault  St.  Mary,  and  evidently  with 
the  similar  view  of  impressing  upon  the  mind  of  his 
correspondent,  and  of  those  to  whom  he  wished  his 
account  to  be  communicated,  that  the  North-West 
Company  were  entirely  free  from  any  blame  with 
regard  to  the  occurrences  at  Red  River. 


1. 


I 


109 


iples"  we 
15,  by  the 
imely,  that 
fe  that  none 
•t  Company 
at  the  time^ 
upon  /Aem, 

■WestCom- 
3  any  accu- 
it  has  since 
}  persons,  of 
I  have  been 
aggression, 
)t,  but  were 

)al  Agent  of 
jecl,  cannot 
s,  by  which 
th  no  small 
rht  be  made 

e  wrote  that 
laid  by  his 
of  State,  he 
to  a  gentle- 
idently  with 
mind  of  his 
e  wished  his 
North-West 
blame  with 


"  The  madness,"  says  Mr.  M'Gillivray,  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  letter,*  "  for  it  cannot  well  be  considered  in 
any  other  light,  that  could  have  induced  Mr.  Semple  to  at- 
tack a  party  of  armed  men,  who  were  passing  quietly  by  his 
fort,  and  studiously  avoiding  him,  is  unaccountable ;  but  so 
it  is,  and  he  has  dearly  paid  for  his  temerity.  The  fact  is, 
that  the  system  adopted  in  the  Red  River  by  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk^s  people,  from  Governor  M'Donell  downwards,  is 
purely  American,  which,  you  know,  is  any  thing  but  conci- 
liatory, and  the  high  language  held  of  right  of  soil,  charters, 
&c.  &c.  sounds  harsh  in  the  ears  of  the  natives,  who  consi- 
der, and  most  justly  too,  that  they  are  the  proprietors  of  the 
soil.  It  appears  that  the  Brules,  including  a  few  Indians, 
amounted  to  the  number  of  thirty.  It  does  not  appear 
that  they  gave  their  opponents  time  to  make  at  all  use  of 
the  field-piece,  for  I  cannot  learn  that  it  was  fired.  The 
man  that  had  the  charge  of  it,  on  being  wounded,  ran  off  in 
the  cart.  I  am  the  more  particular  in  stating  all  the  facts 
that  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  (and  I  believe  they  are 
the  occurrences  that  really  happened)  as  the  story  will  be 
told  in  a  thousand  ways,  that  Mr.  M'Leod,  and  Mr.  A., 
and  Mr.  B.  of  the  North-West  Company,  with  Brules,  and 
Indians,  force  and  arms,  destroyed  the  Colony,  man,  wo- 
man, and  child,  sparing  only  a  miserable  remnant  to  carry 
the  news  to  York  Factory.  I  am  used  to  this  sort  of  cant, 
therefore  would  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the  story  is 
told  in  this  manner.  I  shall  make  no  comments,  but  con- 
clude. 

(Signed)        «  Wm.  M'GILLIVRAY."   . 


*  In  this  letter  the  writer  also  stated,  "  There  were  none  of 
our  people  within  hundreds  of  miles  of  the  place  at  the  time 
the  affair  happened,  which  is  a  most  fortunate  circumstance,  for, 
no  doubt,  as  usual,  we  should  have  the  credit  of  it." 


\] 


no 

Although  the  writer  of  tliis  letter  chooses  to 
w  make  no  comments/'  it  is  not  unUkely  that  the 
reader  will,  and  that,  "  of  the  thousand  ways''  in 
which  it  was  apprehended  the  storj  might  he  told, 
he  will  probably  select  only  one,  and  that  the  very 
one  which  the  writer  appears  so  afraid  of,  name- 
ly, that  Mr.  Norman  M'Leod,  and  Mr.  A.  and  Mr. 
B.  of  the  North-West  Company,  with  Brul6s,  {In- 
dians can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  numbered  in  their 
muster-roll)  did  destroy  the  colony  with  force  and 
arms,  and  if  they  did  not  exterminate  man,  woman, 
and  child,  it  was  not  because  Mr.  A.  and  Mr.  B.  &c. 
&c.  were  not  very  well  inclined  so  to  do,  but  be- 
cause Mr.  Cuthbert  Grant,  their  Half-breed  clerk, 
the  day  after  the  massacre,  at  the  intercession  of 
Mr.  Pritchard,  fortunately  saved  them  from  the  fate 
with  which  they  were  threatened. 


1 


,  .1 


It  appears  unnecessary  to  continue  the  subject  any 
further,  unless  it  be  to  request  the  reader's  attentive 
perusal  of  the  depositions  and  other  documents  sub- 
joined in  the  Appendix,  and  referred  to  throughout 
this  Statement.  These  form  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  evidence  which  has  been  received  as  connected 
with  the  subject;  but  enough  has  been  brought  for- 
ward, to  refute  calumny,  and  to  correct  misrepresen- 
tation, enough  to  satisfy  every  impartial  reader,  that 
what  is  asserted  in  a  former  part  of  this  Statement, 
is  but  too  well  founded ;  namely,  that,  from  the  first 
knowledge  of  an  intention  to  form  a  colony  upon  the 
Red  River,  the  North-West  Company  determined  to 
prevent  it ;  that,  in  pursuance  of  this  determination, 


^'' 


hooses   to 
r  that  the 

ways^'  ill 
it  he  toid, 
it  the  very 

off  name- 
V.  and  Mr. 
5rul6s,  (/n- 
id  in  their 
\\  force  and 
[Xii  woman, 
Mr.  B.  &c. 
do,  but  be- 
reed  clerk, 
srcession  of 
om  the  fate 


subject  any 
^8  attentive 
iments  sub- 
throughout 
portion  of 
connected 
irought  for- 
Hsrepresen- 
reader,  that 
Statement, 
i)m  the  first 
ny  upon  the 
termined  to 
erniination, 


they  adopted,  both  in  this  country,  and  abroad,  such 
measures  as  appeared  to  them  best  calculated  to  car- 
ry their  resolution  into  effect ;  that,  in  doing  so,  they 
did  not  scruple  as  to  the  means  which  were  to  be 
employed ;  that  their  hostile  operations  increased  in 
proportion  as  the  probable  success  of  the  settlement 
became  more  apparent ;  and  that,  at  length,  they 
proceeded  to  those  unjustifiable  measures  which 
have  terminated  in  the  massacre  of  their  fellow-sub- 
jects. 

The  transactions  which  have  been  pointed  out, 
are  of  a  character  not  likely  to  be  met  with  in  any 
other  part  of  the  British  Empire,  and  evidently  call 
for  a  rigid  and  speedy  inquiry.  In  aid  of  such  in- 
quiry, let  those  cordially  join,  who,  although  com- 
mercially connected  with  that  powerful  body,  the 
North- West  Company  of  Montreal,  must  have  been 
kept  in  total  ignorance  of  the  proceedings  which 
have  thus  ended  in  savage  murders.  '*  That  these 
murders,'*  says  Mr.  Pritchard,  in  concluding  his  nar- 
rative, and,  after  a  residence  of  thirteen  years  at  the 
Red  River,  he  is  no  mean  authority,  *^  that  these 
murders  of  my  friends  and  fellow  settlers  might  have 
been  prevented,  if  the  partners  of  the  North-West 
Company  had  been,  in  general,  so  disposed,  is  a  point 
upon  which  no  doubt  can  exist  in  the  mind  of  any 
man  who  is  acquainted  with  the  state  of  tlie  country. 
It  is  a  fact,  which  I  can  safely  assert  in  (ho  presence 
of  Almighty  God,  and  in  the  face  of  tlie  world."  To 
put  an  end  to  such  a  system  of  atrocity,  it  is  obvious 
that  no  means  should  be  neglected,  nur  any  exertion 
spared.     Every  measure  which  the  Law  can  saiic- 


■^- 


.^i-L 


■'"n^im '' 


I' 


jsf 


11<2 


tion,  or  the  Executive  power  can  enforcet  should  be 
strenuously  adopted,  to  bring  to  a  close  that  iron  age 
of  oppression,  which  has  so  long  prevailed  in  the  in- 
terior of  British  North-America,  and  to  put  a  final 
stop  to  those  proceedings  which  his  Majesty's  Go- 
verament  had  marked  as  being  "  so  fatal  to  the  tran- 
quillity of  our  possessions  in  that  quarter,  and  so  dis- 
graceful to  the  British  name/' 


'^M'   I 


« 


-m^^-r' 


'^fi^ 


113 


OBSERVATIONS 

vvott 

"  A  NARRATIVE  OF  OCCURRENCES  IN  THE  INDIAN  COUNTRIES 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA,"  &c. 


The  Reader  has  already  been  informed,  in  the 
Adverlfaienient  prefixed  to  the  foregoing  Statement, 
that  shortly  after  the  account  of  the  transactions 
contained  in  it  had  been  printed  and  circulated, 
chiefly  among  Lord  Selkirk's  personal  friends  and 
acquaintance,  a  Work,  avowedly  sanctioned  by  the 
Agents  of  the  North-West  Company,  was  published, 
under  the  tittle  of,  "  ^  JVarrative  of  Occurrences  in 
the  Indian  Countries  of  JVorth  America,  since  the  Con- 
nexion of  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Selkirk 
with  the  Hudson''s  Bay  Company,  and  his  attempt  to  es- 
tablish a  Colony  on  the  Red  River ;  with  a  detailed 
Account  of  his  Lordship''s  Military  expedition  to,  and 
subsequent  Proceedings  at,  Fort  William,  in  Upper 
Canada.''^  To  that  publication  a  Postscript  is  sub- 
joined, in  which  some  observations  are  made  upon 
the  printed  Statement,  in  consequence  of  which,  but 
chiefly  on  account  of  the  assertions  appearing  through- 
out the  whole  of  the  ''  Narrative,"  it  has  been  thought 
fit  to  reprint  the  Statement  itself,  with  some  addi- 
tional matter,  and  to  lay  it  before  the  Public.  The 
North- West  Company  having  submitted  to  that 
tribunal  their  account  of  the  proceedings  alluded  to, 


"'mmm- "'fit^ 


i. 


114 


*  ,t 


it  is  but  just  that  the  Public  should  be  also  furnished 
with  the  other  side  of  the  case ;  in  addition  to  which, 
the  reader's  attention  is  requested  to  the  following 
Observations,  which  the  perusal  of  the  "  Narrative," 
and  **  Postscript,**  has  naturally  occasioned. 

By  the  Preface  to  the  "  Narrative,"  &c.  it  would 
seem,  that  in  consequence  of  the  publication  last  year 
of  Lord  Selkirk's  "  Sketch  of  the  British  Fur  Trade 
in  North  jimeric(ty  with  Observations  relative  to  the 
North-  West  Company  of  Montrealj^*  a  reply  to  that 
Work  had  been  intended  on  the  part  of  the  Compa- 
ny ;  but,  upon  further  consideration,  it  appears  to 
have  been  deemed  more  advisable  to  change  the 
plan,  and,  instead  of  attempting  to  refute  the  charges 
contained  in  the  *^  Sketch"  itself,  the  more  easy  task 
was  preferred,  of  directing  a  personal  attack  upon 
its  Author.  **  The  object,  in  the  following  pages," 
as  stated  in  their  Preface,  **  is  not  to  refute  the 
charges  and  calumnies  of  Lord  Selkirk  against  the 
North-West  Company  in  general,  but  to  exhibit  a 
faithful  narrative  of  the  occurrences  which  had  taken 
place  since  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  was  first  brought  into 
their  neighbourhood  by  his  political  or  commercial 
speculations."  As,  therefore,  the  North-West  Com- 
pany have  not  thought  fit  to  refute  what  is  contain- 
ed in  the  "  Sketch  of  the  Fur  Trade,"  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  conclude,  that  they  were  unable  to 
refute  it :  and  with  respect  to  the  ^*  Faithful  Narra- 
tive of  Occurrences,"  which  they  have  substituted 
in  the  room  of  any  attempt  to  effect  such  refutation, 
it  will  not  be  a  matter  of  much  difficulty  to  satisfy 
the  impartial  reader,  that  their  Work  is  far  from  de- 
serving so  honourable  a  title. 


iS^: 


115 

It  is  stated,  in  their  Preface,  that  the  Agents,  or 
(( Representatives  of  the  North-West  Company, 
have  been  furnished  by  their  Constituents,  with  the 
most  ample  materials  for  their  defence  ;**  and  that 
the  documents  proving  the  authenticity  of  the  facts 
and  occurrences  detailed  in  their  Narrative,  are 
thrown  into  the  Appendix  annexed  to  that  publica- 
tion. *^  To  that  Appendix,"  say  they,  **  the  reader's 
attention  is  earnestly  entreated ;  and  it  will  be  found 
to  contain  positive  proof  of  almost  every  fact  asserted 
in  the  text."  To  that  Appendix,  the  attention  of  the 
reader  of  these  Observations  is  also  earnestly  re- 
quested ;  and,  as  the  Representatives  of  the  North- 
West  Company  place  such  reliance  upon  the  docu- 
ments which  their  Appendix  contains,  as  affording 
positive  proof  of  the  facts  they  have  thought  fit  to 
assert,  it  seems  advisable,  previous  to  making  some 
general  remarks  upon  the  Narrative  itself,  to  examine 
the  materials  upon  which  it  is  thus  stated  to  be 
grounded.  Before  we  notice  the  superstructure,  it 
will  be  proper  to  inspect  the  foundation. 

These  materials  are  comprised  in  twenty-nine  dif- 
ferent documents ;  which,  as  far  as  it  may  seem  at 
all  requisite  to  advert  to  them,  shall  be  noticed  in 
the  order  in  which  they  appear  numbered  in  their 
Appendix. 

No.  I. 

"  Protest  of  Proprietors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Compa- 
ny, against  the  Grant  to  Lord  Selkirk." 

This  document  was  adverted  to  in  the  preceding 
Statement,  (page  7,)  and  noticed  as  exhibiting  one  of 


-'I 


i    ij 


Il 


// 


m 

I 


'I 


i 


116 

ilie  early  symptoms  of  that  hostility  which  afterwards 
so  strongly  marked  the  conduct  of  the  North-West 
Company  with  respect  to  the  Settlement  upon  the 
Red  River.  Nothing  which  was  therein  stated,  on 
the  subject  of  that  Protest,  is  controverted  in  the 
publication  alluded  to.  Indeed,  in  the  Postscript  to 
the  Narrative,  it  is  now  admitted,  that  those  persons 
concerned  for  the  North-West  Company,  who  sign- 
ed the  Protest,  procured  the  Stock  for  the  purpose 
of  defeating  the  Grant  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  or  (as 
the  Company's  Representatives  express  it)  *^  the  de- 
signs then  meditated  against  their  Trade/* 

**The  Protest,  however,"  they  add,  **a8  a  Pro- 
test of  Hudson's  Bay  Proprietors,  must  stand  on  its 
own  merits.'""'  Be  it  so.  But  whether  it  be  a  good 
protest,  or  a  bad  protest,  it  can  surely  afford  neither 
excuse  for,  nor  extenuation  of  the  aggressions  against 
the  Red  River  Colony.  At  c  U  events,  those  of  the 
Company's  Representatives  who  subscribed  their 
names  to  that  document,  have  contradicted,  in  their 
JVarrative,  what  they  asserted  in  their  Proiest.  **  To 
the  North-West  Company,"  they  observe  in  their 
Narrative,  "  this  establishment,"  (the  Red  River 
Colony,)  *'  was  peculiarly  objectionable  :  they  de- 
nied the  right  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  or 
Lord  Selkirk,  to  any  part  of  the  territory  ceded  to 
him,  of  which  their  predecessors  and  themselves 
had  been  in  occupancy  for  at  least  a  century."t  In 
their   "  Protest,"  however,  they  fully  admit  evert/ 


*  Postscript  to  Narrative,  page  132. 
t  Narrative,  page  9. 


m 


afterwards 
[orth-West 
i  upon  the 
I  stated,  on 
rted  in  the 
ostscript  to 
ose  persona 
,  who  sign- 
he  purpose 
kirk,  or  (as 
\i)  "  the  de- 


n 


»» as  a  Pro- 
stand  on  its 
'  it  be  a  good 
ifford  neither 
isions  against 
tliose  of  the 
icribed  their 
cted,  in  their 
roiest.    "  To 
irve  in  their 

Red  River 
le  :  they  de- 

ompany,  or 
ory  ceded  to 

themselves 
ntury."t     In 

admit  every 


117 

part  of  the  territory  in  question  to  belong  to  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company ;  objecting,  indeed,  to  the  extent 
of  the  grant  proposed  to  be  made  of  it,  or,  in  their 
own  words,  to  so  large  a  grant  of  "  that  part  of  the 
territory  which  is  most  valuable,  fit  for  cultivation, 
and  constitutes  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  Com- 
pany's Capital  Stock."    In  another  part  they  object 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  selling  ^  so  large  and 
valuable  «  portion  of  their  territory;"  and  again, 
they  protest  against  the  measure,  "  because,  upon  a 
fair  and  impartial  estimation  of  the  future  value,  and 
importance  of  the  lands  proposed  to  be  granted,  and 
the  limited  and  unproductive  consideration  to  be 
given  by  the  said  Earl,  your  Memorialists  cannot 
perceive  for  the  said  Grant,  any  other  motive,  than 
to  secure  to  the  posterity  of  the  said  Earl,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Stockholders  of  the  said  Company,  an 
immensely  valuable  lauded  Estate."  It  thus  appears 
evident  that  the  Representatives  of  the  North- West 
Company,  or  their  Constituents,  or  both,  admit,  or 
deny,  that  the  lands  in  question  belong  to  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  just  as  the  admission  or  denial 
may  chance  best  to  suit  their  purpose ;  and  if,  as  far 
as  the  argument  with  respect  to  the  Right  of  Soil  is 
concerned,  their  **  Protest"  is  to  stand  upon  its  own 
merits,  their  "  Narrative"  (as  much,  at  least,  as  re- 
lates to  the  same  topic)  must,  of  course,  fall  to  the 
ground.* 


*  In  the  Postscript  to  their  Narrative,  (page  132.)  the  Re- 
presentatives state,  that  "  it  must  always  be  remembered,  that 


»-'. 


I 


A 


'Ml 


H 


;  / 


I' I 


m- 


I     : 


118 

No.  2. 
"  Lord  SeUnrk*s  Mvertisement  and  Prospectus  oftht 
New  Cohny.** 
This  document  was  neither  advertised,  nor  pub- 
lished, nor,  in  any  shape,  publicly  circulated,  ft  form- 
ed part  of  a  sketch  of  which  tho  Earl  of  Selkirk  had 
a  few  copies  printed  for  his  own  convenience,  and 
for  private  circulation  among  a  very  limited  number 
of  his  friends,  whom  he  wished  to  consult  about  the 
measures  he  was  then  entering  into,  as  connected 
with  his  plans  of  colonization.  But  even  if  the  Pros- 
pectus, unfinished,  and  incomplete  as  it  was,  had  been 
advertised  and  publicly  circulated,  which  it  was  not, 
it  may  fairly  stand,  (in  the  language  of  the  ^  Narra- 
tive,^^) upon  its  own  merits.  But  the  Representatives 
of  the  North-\yest  Company,  in  remarking  upwi  its 
contents,  have  no  right  to  alter  or  misstate  them.  This, 
however,  they  do  even  with  respect  to  the  very  first 
sentence  of  the  document,  as  printed  by  themselves. 
That  document  states  the  soil  and  climate  (with  re- 
ference to  the  site  of  the  Grant)  to  be  "  inferior  to 

il"  (the  Protest)  "  was  signed  bj  every  person  present  at  the 
meeting,  except  Lord  Selkirk,  and  the  members  of  the  Direc- 
tion." This  is  not  the  fact.  Their  Protest  was  not  signed  by 
every  person  present  at  the  meeting,  except  Lord  Selkirk  and 
the  members  of  the  Direction.  There  were  more  proprietors 
present  (exclusive  of  Lord  Selkirk  and  the  Directors)  who  did 
not  sign  the  protest,  than  those  who  did. 

With  similar  accuracy  have  they  subjoined  a  Note  to  the  Pro- 
test,  as  printed  in  their  Appendix,  in  which  they  also  state, 
that  (of  the  Proprietors  present)  "  John  Fish  was  authorized 
to  vote  for  John  Hamborough,  and  did  so."  John  Fish  neither 
voted  for  himself,  nor  for  John  Hamborough. 


># 


119 


none  In  British  America.  This  is  immediatelj  trans- 
lated into  the  Narrative,  (page  15,)  and  Lord  Sol- 
kirk  stated  to  have  represented  the  climate  and  soil 
as  being  **  superior  to  any  in  British  North-America." 
With  respect  to  the  climate^  those  who  represent  the 
North- West  Company  admit,  (page  6,)  that  **iti8 
undoubtedly  healthy,**  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
they  elsewhere  contradict  themselves.  It  is  otherwise 
with  regard  to  the  $oiL  In  their  Protsst  it  has  alrea- 
dy been  shown,  that,  in  treating  of  the  grant,  they 
describe  it  as  forming  a  part  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  territory  **  which  is  most  valuable,  fit  for 
cultivation,"  kc.  kc.  But  in  their  Narrative  (page  7) 
they  state  the  country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Red  RiverSettlementasconsisting  of  extensive  plains, 
where  ^  the  soil,  excepting  partially  on  the  banks  of 
the  rivers,  is  light  and  unproductive. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Pritchard,  (a  gen- 
tleman whose  name  has  frequently  been  noticed  in 
the  Statement,)  written  ome  years  ago,  will  proba- 
bly be  deemed  a  better  authority  on  this  subjectthan 
the  Narrative. 


•'  Montreal,  4th  October,  1814. 


"  Sir, 


"  In  answer  to  your  queries,  concerning  the  climate 
and  natural  productions  of  Red  River,  I  have  the  honour 
to  present  you  with  the  following  Statement : 

"  I  have  resided  thirteen  years  on  Red  River,  and  have 
always  been  in  the  habit  of  cultivating  its  soil :  and  from 
experience  can  take  upon  myself  to  say,  that  the  climate 
is  much  the  same  as  in  Upper  Canada  ;  that  is,  the  win- 
ters are  of  a  shorter  duration,  and  much  milder,  than  those 
experienced  at  Quebec. 


/< 


.1 


Jj' 


^t«i 


190 


/    '  \ 


"  Last  summer  I  had  water  melons  sown  in  the  open 
ground  on  the  4th  of  June,  which  were  ripe  early  in  Sep- 
tember ;  the  largest  weighing  1 3lbs.  The  musk  melons 
and  cucumbers  were  as  large,  and  as  well  flavoured,  as  I 
ever  met  with  at  a  fruit-shop  in  London.  Turnips  sown 
the  25th  of  June,  were  fit  for  the  table  about  the  middle  of 
August.  In  October,  one  of  them  weighed  14|lbs.  One 
bushel  of  potatoes  will  produce  from  forty  to  fifty  bushels. 
"  Wheat,  barley,  and  rye,  I  have  only  seen  in  small  quan- 
tities ;  but  I  am  of  opinion,  that  no  country  will  produce 
a  more  abundant  crop,  or  with  so  little  trouble,  as  on  Red 
River. 

'^  The  natural  produce  of  tlie  soil,  is  wild  flax,  wild  rice, 
cherries,  pears,  raspberries,  strawberrie;j,  grapes,  bi^sh 
cranberries,  currants,  plums,  crab  apples,  and  different 
roots,  which  the  Indians  prepare  as  food.  The  plains  like- 
wise abound  with  medicinal  herbs  and  roots.  Salt  springs 
are  very  common ,  and  the  sugar  maple  is  to  be  found  in 
every  point. 

"  I  need  not  mention  the  immense  herds  of  buffaloe  that 
graze  on  the  plains,  or  the  number  of  elk  and  moose  deer 
that  inhabit  the  woods. 

"  A  line,  with  sixty  hooks,  set  across  any  part  of  the  ri- 
ver, will  give  you  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  catfish  per  day, 
each  weighing  from  9  to  25lbs.  besides  sturgeon,  and  many 
other  fish  peculiar  to  North- America,  may  be  taken  in  great 
abundance  with  nets.  In  the  fall  and  spring,  wild  fowl  of 
almost  all  descriptions  are  very  common.  The  general 
price  of  a  buiTaloe,  as  large  as  an  English  ox,  is  from  twen- 
ty to  thirty  rounds  of  ammunition,  or  from  three-fourths  to 
one  pound  of  tobacco. 

"  But  tlie  real  value  of  the  country,  is  the  fertility  of  its 
soil,  and  the  facility  that  Nature  offers  to  the  industrious  of 
obtaining  the  reward  of  his  labour.  Here  a  luxuriant 
soil  only  asks  the  labour  of  the  ploughman:  not  a  root  or 


L-  ♦ 


>w*<g')'Jia 


'.^- 


a  in  the  open 
early  in  Sep- 
I  musk  melons 
lavoured,  as  I 
Turnips  soMrn 
t  the  middle  of 
[  14  Jibs.    One 

0  fifty  bushels. 

1  in  small  quan- 
y  will  produce 
ible,  as  on  Red 

flax,  wild  rice, 
grapes,  bi^sh 
,  and  different 
rhe  plains  like- 
.  Salt  springs 
to  be  found  in 

cf  buffaloe  that 
nd  moose  deer 

r  part  of  the  ri- 

catfish  per  day, 

geon,  and  many 

taken  in  great 

g,  wild  fowl  of 

The  general 

,  is  from  twen- 

iree-iburths  to 

e  fertility  of  its 
e  industrious  of 
re  a  luxuriant 
not  a  root  or 


stump  requires  to  be  taken  up.  The  lands  are  already 
cleared.  The  plains  present  you  with  a  pasturage  of 
many  hundred  miles  in  extent ;  and  your  horses  and  cows, 
except  those  required  to  be  milked,  may  be  left  out  all  win- 
ter. In  truth,  I  know  of  no  country  that  offers  so  many 
advantages  :  an  exceeding  wholesome  climate,  a  fertile 
soil,  fish,  flesh,  and  fowls,  in  abundance  ;  and  sugar  and 
salt  for  the  trouble  of  making  them.  In  fact,  all  the  neces- 
saries, and  all  the  luxuries  that  are  useful  to  mankind,  are 
to  be  found  there.     Society  only  is  wanting. 

"  I  trust,  my  good  Sir,  you  will  pardon  the  cursory  man- 
ner in  which  this  is  written.  Being  on  the  eve  '^f  my  de- 
parture, I  hope  it  will  plead  an  excuse  ;  and  believe  me, 
though  hastily  written,  the  foregoing  statements  arc  strict- 
ly correct. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Sir, 
Your  most  obedient  humble  Servant, 
JOHN  PRITCHARD. 
"  Colin  Robertson,  Esq." 


■      No.  3. 

"  Admeasurement  of  the  Distance  and  Stations  between 
York  Factory  and  Lord  Selkirk's  Colony  ;  by  David 
Thompson^  Geographer  to  the  JVbrth'West  Com' 
panyy 

This  document  merits  very  little  notice.  It  would 
appear,  however,  that,  with  respect  to  the  contents 
of  it,  the  Representatives  contradict  even  their  own 
Geographer.  He  states  the  distance  from  York 
Factory,  at  Port  Nelson  in  Hudson^s  Bay,  to  the 
Forks  of  Red  River,  (the  situation  of  Lord  Selkirk's 
colony,)  to  be  seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles : 
but  they,,   in   their    observation,  subjoined    to   his 


1  fu 

^1 


i 


'/ 


f        ' 


\->i. 


w 


A 


m  ^  I 


V 


'V 


^'  Admeasurement/'  &ic.  call  the  distance  from  York 
Factory  to  Red  River  nine  hundred  and  forty-five 
miles.'^  They  appear,  indeed,  not  only  to  differ 
from  their  Geographer,  but  from  themselves,  having 
already,  in  their  Protest,  stated  the  distance  from 
any  sea  port  to  be  two  thousand  miles ! 

In  their  observation,  however,  with  respect  to  the 
dreary,  barren,  and  inhospitable  track  between  Lake 
Winipic  and  the  coasts  of  Hudson's  Bay,  they  are 
more  correct ;  a  tract,  in  which  they  state,  that  '*  the 
wretches  who  should  chance  to  lose  their  canoe, 
must,  to  a  certainty,  perish  !"  And  this  was  the  re- 
gion to  which  several  of  the  partners  of  the  Noitth- 
West  Company,  headed  by  Mr.  Norman  M*Leod, 
the  Magistrate,  one  of  the  principal  Agents  of  the 
Company,  drove  the  settlers,  a  few  days  subsequent 
to  the  massacre  at  Red  River,  after  plundering  them 
of  their  property,  burning  their  habitations,  and  de. 
priving  theci  of  their  provisions.t 


Nos.  4,  5,  and  6. 

These  contain  the  opinions  of  Counsel  upon  points 
submitted  to  them,  on  the  part  of  the  North-West 
Company,  witii  respect  to  the  validity  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Charter,  &c. 

The  two  first.  No.  4  and  5,  (as  likewise  a  great 
part  of  No.  6.)  relate  entirely  to  the  right  of  exclusive 
trade  specified  in  the  Charter,  and  to  the  provisions 
contained  therein  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  that 


*  Appendix  to  "Narrative  ofOccv^anccf,'"  No.  3,  p.  10. 
t  See  page  9G  of  Statement.  .,      .,    ..,    , 


f 


■iiHI«l>ilHH"i.  I    |ij' 


om  York 
forty-five 
to  differ 
e$,  hav'mg 
ince  from 

)ect  to  the 
reen  Lake 
r,  they  are 
, that  "the 
keir  canoe, 
was  the  rc- 
ihe  Noi*,lh- 
n  M*Leod, 
ents  of  the 
subsequent 
]ering  them 
ins,  and  de> 


upon  points 
North-West 
f  the  Hud- 

me  a  great 
t  of  exclusive 
le  provisions 
nlaining  that 

No.  3,  p.  10. 


123 

right — such  as  preventing  free  passage  through  their 
territory,  seizing  persons  and  property,  confiscating 
goods,  &c. ;  bat  as  no  attempt  is  made,  except  by 
vague  assertion,  to  show  that  the  Hudson^s  Bay 
Company  claim  those  rights,  it  does  not  appear  very 
obvious  for  what  purpose  legal  opinions  are  referred 
to,  which  militate  against  claims  that  are  not  made. 
That  these  claims,  in  fact,  are  not  made,  may  be 
gathered  from  the  memorial*  which  was  presented 
to  his  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State,  in  February, 
1814,  by  the  Agents  of  the  North-West  Company 
themselves ;  by  which  it  appears,  that  the  memorial- 
ists, and  their  predecessors,  have,  for  a  long  course  of 
years,  and  without  obstruction  to  their  transit,  pushed 
their  Trade  through  that  very  part  of  those  territories, 
which,  in  their  protest,  they  have  admitted  to  belong 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  which  they  stre- 
nuously admonished  the  Company  not  to  part  with. 
With  respect  to  the  document,  N^o.  6,  it  cannot  be 
thought  requisite  that  any  discussion  should  be  en- 
tered upon  in  these  Observations.  The  legal  opi- 
nions and  argument  contained  in  it  are  detailed  at 
great  length;  and  the  reader,  on  perusing,  and  con- 
Mdering  them,  must  judge  for  himseU.  At  ail  events, 
they  appear,  in  their  result,  to  be  diametrically  oppo- 
site to  those  inserted  in  Appendix,  [A]t 

*  See  Appendix  to  Narrative,  page  57. 

t  It  appears  doubtful  whether  the  N.  W.  Company,  in  asking 
the  opinion  of  Counsel,  with  respect  to  the  validity  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company's  Charter,  ever  submitted  to  such  Counsel 
a  copy  of  the  Charter  itself.  When  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Gibhs 
(now  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas)  was 


|1( 


^ 


(^ 


(! 


if.' 


124 

Nos.  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  and  12. 

We  come  now  to  the  more  important  part  of  those 
**  ample  materials,*^  furnished  to  the  Representatives 
of  the  North- West  Company  by  their  Constituents, 
viz.  the  affidavits,  depositions,  and  other  proofs,  upon 
which  the  facts  asserted  in  their  Narrative,  are  sta- 
ted to  be  founded. 

The  six  documents,  numbered  as  above,  are  depo- 
sitions of  several  of  the  settlers  and  others,  who  were 
brought  down  to  Canada  by  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, after  the  destruction  of  the  colony  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1815.  The  first  of  these  (numbered  7)  is 
ushered  in  by  a  note,  in  page  16  of  their  Narrative, 
in  which  they  announce  that,  "  Amongst  many  other 
affidavits  of  the  unfortunate  people  who  were  so 
deceived,"  (viz.  the  settlers  deceived  by  Lord 
Selkirk,)  "  one  by  George  Campbell  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix,  No.  VIL"*  In  case  the  reader 
should  not  have  the  "  Narrative  of  Occurrences"  at 
hand  for  reference,  a  copy  of  CampbelPs  deposition, 
(as  printed  in  that  publication,)  is  inserted  in  the 

asked,  he  certainly  ueither  was  furnished  with  a  copy,  or  even 
abstract,  of  the  Charter.  This  appears  by  his  answer  to  the 
5th  point,  as  printed  in  document  No.  5,  of  their  Appendix. 

*  The  assertion  of  the  advocates  of  the  North-West  Company, 
thnt  Lord  Selkirk  deceived,  cheated,  and  starved  the  settlers, 
is  absurd  on  the  face  of  it.  By  the  terms  of  his  Grant,  he  was 
bound  for  so  many  years,  under  a  heavy  penalty,  to  send  out, 
annually,  a  certain  number  ol  persons  to  Hudson's  Bay.  It  was, 
besides,  his  main  and  anxious  wish,  and  object,  to  promote  the 
increase  of  the  Settlement  which  he  had  undertaken.  And  in 
ordei  to  encourage  others  to  emigrate  to  the  same  quarter,  he, 
forsooth,  cheated  and  starved  those  who  had  already  gone  to 
^be  Red  River  ! 


»i>iWir'«  HI  tUTt 


.125 

Appendix  to  this  statement,*  and  by  a  oerusal  of  it, 
he  will  be  fully  enabled  to  judge  whether  its  contents 
are  entitled  to  the  degree  of  importance  attached  to 
them  by  those  who  have  so  triumphantly  produced 
his  affidavit. 

This  *'  unfortunate^*  man,  (Campbell,)  as  the  reader 
may  recollect,  was  one  of  those,  who,  in  the  winter  of 
1814-15,  deserted  from  the  Red  Rive  settlement, 
where,  as  stated  by  him  in  the  conclusion  of  his  affi- 
davit, "  6nding  his  treatment  the  reverse  to  what  he 
was  led  to  expect  from  Lord  Selkirk's  representa- 
tions, and  for  the  reasons  specified  in  this  deposi- 
tion, he  judged  it  expedient  to  return  to  Canada,'* 
(where,  by  the  by,  he  had  never  been.)  "  and,  for 
that  purpose,  requested  a  passage  from  Red  River, 
from  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron,  a  proprietor  in  the 
North-West  Company;  \krhich  was  granted.  And 
farther  this  deponent  says  not. 

(Signed)  GEORGE  CAMPBELL," 

The  only  sensible  part  of  this  affidavit  is  lis  con- 
clusion— ^'^  farther  this  deponent  says  not.'*  For 
had  Mr.  George  Campbell  "judged  it  expedient"  far- 
ther to  say,  he  might  inadvertently  have  told  the 
truth,  and  thereby  deserted  the  cause  of  his  second 
patrons,  as  he  had  already,  by  his  treachery,  deserted 
that  of  his  first.  Had  this  "  unfortunate  man"  gone 
on  deposing,  he  might  have  chanced,  and  with  the 
strictest  truth,  to  have  added,  "  And  this  deponent 
farther  saith,  he  was  the  principal  person  who  desert- 


y 


*  See  Api-endix,  [F.  F.] 


120 


h  Ut  f 


;■         .: 


from  the  Settlement,  broke  his  contract,  and  defraud- 
ed his  employer ;  that  he  not  only  did  so  himself,  but 
acted  as  the  ringleader,  among  the  other  deserters 
whom  he  prevailed  upon  to  follow  his  example ;  that 
he  afterwards  headed  an  armed  band,  under  the 
directions  of  the  said  Duncan  Cameron,  the  North- 
West  Company's  partner,  for  the  purpose  of  plunder- 
ing the  storehouse  of  the  Settlement,  and  robbing  it 
of  the  field  pieces,  swivels,  &c.,  which  had  been  pro- 
vided for  its  security ;  that  one  of  his  brother  deser- 
ters having  been  apprehended  for  assisting  in  said 
robbery,  deponent,  at  the  desire  of  said  partner, 
again  headed  a  party  of  armed  men,  composed  of  the 
North-West  C  >  ipany's  clerks,  servants,  and  others, 
and  by  force  of  arms  rescued  the  person  who  was  so 
apprehended :  that,  after  depriving,  as  before-men- 
tioned, his  fellow  settlers  of  their  means  of  effectual 
resistance,  deponent  further  "  judged  it  expedient'* 
to  assist  in  attacking  them  with  fire  arms,  by  which 
several  of  them  were  severely  wounded,  and  one  of 
whom  died  of  his  wounds ;  that,  after  said  colony 
was  destroyed,  and  the  houses  burnt  to  the  ground, 
deponent  was  taken  down  by  said  North-West  Com- 
pany to  their  trading  post  of  Fort  William  in  Canada, 
where  he  found  many  of  the  partnership  then  assem 
bled;  that  said  partners  received  deponent  with 
great  cordiality  and  respect ;  that  they  praised  him 
I'ighly  for  his  conduct,  and  did  him  the  honour  of 
placing  him  at  table  in  their  dining  hall  at  Fort 
William  next  to  themselves,  and  above  the  regular 
clerks  in  the  Company's  service.  Deponent  fur- 
ther  saith,   that  a  Book,  or  debtor  and  creditor 


127 


Account,  was  opened  at  Fort  William  between  said 
Company,  and  said  doserters,  which  book  is  marked 
and  entitled,  **  The  Red  River  and  Colonial  Regis- 
ter, 1815;"  that  to  his  (deponent's)  account  in  said 
book  is  added,  in  the  hand-writing,  and  with  the  sig- 
nature of  said  partner  Cameron,  the  following  *^  faith- 
ful narrative,"  viz.  **  that  he  (deponent)  was  a  very 
decent  man,  and  a  great  partisan,  who  had  exposed 
his  life  for  the  North- West  Company;  that  he  had 
been  of  essential  service  in  the  transactions  of  Red 
River,  and  deserved  at  least  £100  Halifax,  and  eve- 
ry other  service  that  could  be  rendered  to  him  by 
said  Company ;  and  that,  rather  than  his  (deponent's) 
merits  and  services  should  go  unrewarded,  he  (Ca- 
meron) would  give  £100  out  of  his  own  pocket, 
though  already  a  great  loser  by  his  campaign  at  Red 
River."     Deponent  further  saith,  that  as  a  remune- 
ration for  said  services  in  attacking  the  settlement, 
pillaging  the  stores,  burning  the  houses,  and  shed- 
ding the  blood  of  his  fellow  settlers,  he  judged  it  ex- 
pedient to  accept  said  £lOO,  from  said  Company,* 
and  which  sum  was  accordingly  paid  to  him  by  one 
of  the  honoTirable  Company's  clerks,  his  worthy 
friend,  Mr.  Robert  M'Robb." 

Of  a  similar  character  wi.h  Campbel!  s  deposition, 
No.  7,  are  the  "  other  affidavits  of  the  unfortunate 
people  who  were  so  deceived,"  and  which  are  num- 
bered (in  the  Appendix  to  the  "  Narrative")  8  to 
12  inclusive.     Of  these  the  Representatives  of  the 


*   m 


;--i\ 


i     '   i 


See  page  32  ;  also  Appendix,  [S.]  pnge  sxviii. 


■'■%^:i:: 


128 


North- West  Company,  in  a  note  in  page  2d  of  their 
publication,  saj,  "  the  best  evidence  of  those,  and  the 
future  transactions,  is  that  of  the  persons  engaged  in 
them,  under  the  order  of  M'Doneil,  which  will  be 
found  in  the  affidavits  in  the  Appendix,  viz.  No.  8, 
9,  10,  11,  and  12.'' 

If  the  reader  think  it  necessary  to  pay  attention 
to  these  depositions,  he  may  be  informed  that,  of 
the  Deponents,  James  Pinkman  ( No.  9,)  deserted  in 
debt  to  his  employer  £18  Ss.  for  articles  delivered 
to  him  at  the  settlement.     He  also  stole  six  guns, 
which  he  sold  to  the  North- West  Company,  and  for 
which  he  received  a  credit,  in  the  book  of  account  be^ 
fore  alluded  to,  of  £10  \5s.  as  appears  entered  in  the 
hand  writing  of  one  of  the  partners  themselves.  An- 
other of  these  unfortunate  deponents,  Hugh  Swords, 
(No.  10,)  had  likewise  an  account  opened  with  him 
at  Fort  William,  in  which  credit  is  allowed  him  by  the 
North- West  Company,  for  £l6  2*.  \0d,  for  articles 
brought  away  from  the  settlement,  and  delivered  to 
the  Company.    To  this  amount  w?s  added  £20  as  a 
reward  for  his  services.  What  his  services  were  is  suf- 
ficiently evident  from  the  note  subjoined  to  his  account, 
in  the  hand- writing  of  the  North- West  Company's 
partner,  Alexander  M^Donell.  '^His"  (Hugh  Sword's) 
*'  behaviour  towards  us  has  been  that  of  a  true  par- 
tisan, steady,  brave,  and  resolute  man, and  was  some- 
thing of  a  leading   character  among  his  country- 
men, and  deserves   at  least  about  £20."     James 
Golden,  another  cf  these  unfortunate  deponents,  (No. 
1 1.)  also  decamped  in  debt  to  the  settlement,  (£l9 
19.V.)     His  account  at   Fort  William  was  likewise 


/■I 


■■•  ii.C.«ir«Mimf^ 


129 

written  out*  and  signed  by  th'^  same  partner,  Alex- 
ander M^Doneli,  and  credit  was  given  him  for  13L 
I7s.  6d.  being  the  amount  of  articles  brought  away 
from  the  settlement.  And  a  further  allowance  of 
20/.  for  services,  which  are  also  best  described  in  the 
note  subjohied  to  hisaccount,  in  the  handwriting,  and 
with  the  signature  of  the  same  partner,  viz.  "  An 
active,  smart  fellow — left  the  Hudson's  Bay  Compa- 
ny in  April  last — a  true  partisan,  steady,  and  brave — 
took  a  most  active  part  in  the  campaign  of  this 
spring,  and  deserves  from  15/.  to  20/.  He  had  lost 
about  20A  by  leaving  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a 
month  before  the  expiration  of  his  contract." 


But  enough  of  these  wretched  Depositions,  which 
are  rendered  not  the  less  disgusting,  by  being  attest- 
ed before  a  principal  Agent  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, Mr.  Norman  M'Leod — a  fit  magistrate  to  take 
such  affidavits  !  What  reliance  can  be  put  on  nar- 
ratives grounded  upon  such  rotten  materials  ?  or 
what  dependance  ought  to  be  placed  upon  affidavits 
procured  under  the  direction  of  those  who,  to  serve 
their  purposes  of  deception,  obtain  Depositions  by 
seducing  and  bribing  the  Deponents  ? 


:iir'"!r^ 


r-i^...   ■^'^yf-, 


-K 


,1 


130 


No.  13. 


'^  Speech  of  the  Grandes  Orbillbs,  a  great  chief  of 
the  Chippeways,  made  in  the  Indian  Hall^  at  the 

.  Forks  of  Red  River,  on  the  I9th  of  June,  1814; 
midressed  to  several  of  the  partners  of  the  North- 
West  Company.  The  chief  holding  a  string  of 
wampum  in  his  hands  tied  at  both  ends^ 

This  Speech,  ivith  its  magnificent  Title,  bears 
every  appearance  of  having  been  composed,  for  the 
occasion,  by  those  virho  wished  it  to  be  believed  that 
the  North-West  Company  had  sufficient  influence 
over  the  Indians,  to  make  them  commit  acts  of  vio- 
lence against  the  Red  River  settlement,  had  such 
been  the  wish  of  the  Company. 

Without  at  all  admitting  that  the  North-Wcst 
Company  possessed  such  influence  over  any  consider- 
able portion  of  the  native  tribes,  it  should  be  recol- 
lected that,  at  the  date  of  this  alleged  speech,  those 
partners,  whose  outrages  against  the  colony  became 
afterwards  so  conspicuous,  had  not  proceeded  to  the 
foul  means  hinted  at  in  the  letter  of  their  partner, 
Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell,  of  the  5th  of  August, 
181  i.*  They,  no  doubt,  expected,  at  that  time,  that 
(he  settlement  would  be  destroyed  by  what  they  con- 
sidered aafair  means,  namely,  by  threats,  intimidu' 
lion,  seduction,  and  bribery.     And  if  these  failed,  it 


See  page  1 1,  Statement. 


■'ft 


(i 


\/' 


';:Hy 


131 

was  time  enough,  as  they  thought,  to  haye  recourse 
to  the  hostility  of  such  allies  as  the  Grandes  Oreilles, 
and  to  raise  the  Indians  against  the  settlement  in  the 
mode  directed  by  their  agent,  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod, 
in  his  letter  ot  the  dd  of  June,  1816.* 

The  very  first  sentence  of  the  speech  of  Grandes 
Oreilles,  is  sufficient  to  throw  doubt  upon  its  authen- 
ticity. "  Traders,  my  children,  when  I  first  heard 
of  the  troubles  you  were  in  at  this  place,  my  heart 
became  sorry,  and  the  tears  ran  down  my  cheeks." 
A  most  unindian-like  acknowledgment,  even  after 
making  every  allowance  for  the  figurative  language 
of  a  Chippewa  chief.  But  a  Chippewa  chief  would 
scarcely,  at  a  Council  held  with  the  Partners  of  the 
North-West  Company,  have  addressed  them  in  the 
words,  **  my  Children.'*  He  would  have  addressed 
the  principal  partner  present  by  the  title  of  **  Father," 
and  styled  himself  and  his  people,  **  Children."  Thus, 
in  the  speech  of  the  Chippeway  chief  of  Sand  Lake, 
at  the  council  held  in  Upper  Canada  by  the  members 
of  the  Indian  Department,  (an  extract  of  which,  taken 
from  the  minutes  of  that  Department,  has  been  al- 
ready referred  to,)  he  invariably  addressed  himself  to 
the  principal  member  present  by  the  title  of  "  Father," 
and  was  answered  by  him  with  the  expression  of 
"  my  Child."  When  the  Indian  chiefs  also  came  to 
oifer  their  assistance  to  Governor  Semple  and  the 
settlers,  they  said,  in  the  council  that  was  held  on 
that  occasion,  that  they  came  to  ask  their  "  Father's" 


*  See  page  100,  Statemeot, 


.1 


I  ^ 


ia2 

advice }  and  that  if  tlieir  "  Father"  wanted  aid,  thej 
and  their  warriors  would  come  and  assist  him,  &c. 

*«  Whaif''^  exclaims  Grandes  Oreilles,  speaking  of 
the  settlers,  *^  what  are  these  land  workers  ?  what 
brought  them  here?  who  gave  them  our  lands?" 
(did  the  Chippewa  chief  select  the  words  which  were 
to  be  printed  in  italics  ?)  "  and  how  do  they  dare  to 
prevent  our  Traders  from  purchasing  whatever  we 
have  to  give  them  upon  our  own  lands  ?"  Our  own 
lands  !  Who,  then,  after  all,  are  to  be  considered 
as  the  true  and  rightful  owners  of  these  most  debate- 
able  lands?  The  Hudson^s  Baj  Company  most  per- 
tinaciously maintain  thai,  by  virtue  of  their  Charter, 
these  lands  belong  to  them — a  claim  fully  admitted 
by  those  who  were  concerned  for  the  North-West 
Company,  and  who  signed  the  Protest  against  grant- 
ing away  so  large  an  extent  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
territories.  But  in  their  Narrative,  (page  9,)  the 
Representatives  say,  that  their  Constituents  deny  the 
right  of  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company  to  any  part  of 
the  lands  in  question,  of  which,  they  state,  their  pre- 
decessors and  themselves  have  had  the  occupancy 
for  at  least  a  century.  This  again  is  contradicted  by 
their  own  Grandes  Oreilles  maintaining  that  these 
lands  belong  to  the  Native  Indians.  Then  comes 
the  principal  Agent  of  the  North-West  Company, 
Mr.  William  M^Gillivray,  claiming  the  territory  in 
behalf  of  the  Half-breed  Bois-Brules^  "  who,"  says 
he,  "  consider  themselves  as  possessors  of  the  coun- 
try, and  lords  of  the  soil."*     And  last  of  all,  Mr. 

*  See  note,  page  35,  of  Statement. 


-trnf- — —- 


133 


ed  aid,  thej 
t  him,  &c. 
speaking  of 
kers?  what 
mr  lands  ?^* 
which  were 
:hoy  dare  to 
whatever  we 
♦    Our  own 
B  considered 
most  debate- 
ny  most  per- 
leir  Charter, 
illy  admitted 
North-West 
gainst  grant- 
ud  son's  Bay 
page  9,)  the 
ints  deny  the 
0  any  part  of 
te,  their  prc- 
e  occupancy 
[itradicted  by 
V  that  these 
Then  comes 
St  Company, 
territory  in 
who,"  says 
of  the  coun- 
of  all,  Mr. 


Simon  MKjillivray,  another  agent  of  the  Company, 
makes  his  appearance,  and  entering  a  caveat  against 
both  Half-breeds^  and  Whole-breeds^  would  make  his 
Majesty's  Government  believe,  that  the  lands  in 
question  belong  to  the  United  States.*  It  would  be 
vain  to  attempt  to  reconcile  these  contradictions  of 
the  Company ;  and  the  hint  with  which  their  own 
Chippewa  Orator  concludes  his  speech  (if  it  be  his 
speech)  appears  not  unaptly  addressed  to  those  who 
composed  his  audience :  '^These  are  my  words,''  says 
Grandos  Oreilles,  **  and  I  have  not  two  mouths." 


No.  14. 

"  Resolutions  of  the  Hudson'' s  Bay  Company^  19/A 
May,  1815." 

It  seems  unnecessary  to  occupy  much  of  the  rea- 
der's attention  on  the  subject  of  this  article.  In  pro- 
moting their  view*)  of  establishing  settlers  within  the 
Hudson's  Bay  territory,  the  Company  thought  it 
incumbent  upon  them  to  do  all  in  their  power  to 
make  regulations  which  might  tend  to  secure  as  ef- 
ficient  an  administration  of  justice  as  circumstances 
would  admit.  The  Resolutions  in  question  were  ac- 
cordingly founded  upon  the  legal  opinions  which 
they  had  obtained,!  and  were  submitted  to,  and  ap- 
proved by  Counsel. 

*  See  conclusion  of  Mr.  S.  M'Gillivray's  letter  to  Earl 
Bathurst,  Appendix,  [D.  D.]  page  Ixiv. 

t  See  the  opinions  of  Sir  Samuel  Romilly  and  the  other 
Counsel.    Appendix,  [A.] 


Mi 

I 


I" 

n 


■te:< 


-  .■.t'i*.(i^M.-^»^.«WKi» 


i       ■'  * 


% 


\J- 


^  The  resolutions,"  (says  the  Narrative,  page  45,) 
**  were,  as  usual,  opposed  by  all  the  members  of  the 
Company  present,  except  the  noble  Lord,  and  the 
Committoe,  but  these  being  the  majority,  opposition 
was  ineffectual.*  After  some  discussion,  the  names 
of  the  persons  appointed  to  the  different  offices  were 
also  communicated,  and  the  surprise  of  the  persons 
representing  the  interests  of  the  Canadian  traders, 
who  were  also  members  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, may  be  easily  conceived,  when  they  learnt  that 
Mr.  Macdonell,  against  whom  warrants  were  issued 
on  information  upon  oath,  of  acts  of  felony  commit- 
ted by  him,  was  appointed  the  second  person  in  com- 
mand, and  administration  of  justice  throughout  the 
territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company/'  But, 
did  the  persons  representing  the  interests  of  the  Ca- 
nadian traders  imagine  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany would,  without  better  information,  pay  atten* 
tion  to  warrants  alleged  to  be  issued  by  such  a  ma- 
gistrate as  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod,  upon  informations, 
on  oath,  of  such  informants  as  Messrs.  George  Camp- 
bell, Pinkman,  Golden,  &c.  &c.  with  respect  to  acts 
of  felony  which  the  lawyers,  consulted  by  the  North- 


*  No  bad  reason  for  an  "  opposition  being  ineffectual,"  viz. 
it  being  lefl  in  the  minority  !  With  respect  to  the  assertion  in 
the  Narrative,  that  "  the  resolutions  were,  as  usual,  opposed 
by  all  the  members  of  the  Company  present,  except  the  noble 
Lord  and  the  Committee,"  this,  "  as  usual,"  is  not  the  fad. 
There  were  none  who  opposed  the  resolutions,  but  those  agents 
of  the  North- West  Company  who  were  present,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  small  proprietor  of  £100  stock. 


,vw«i*(jr'i 


8,  page  45,) 
ibers  of  the 
rd,  and  the 
S  opposition 
I,  the  names 
offices  were 
the  persons 
]ian  traders, 
's  Bay  Com- 
sy  learnt  that 
)  were  issued 
lony  commit- 
erson  in  com- 
roughout  the 
pany."    But, 
ists  of  the  Ca- 
m's Bay  Com- 
)n,  pay  atten- 
>y  such  a  ma- 
informations, 
reorge  Camp- 
respect  to  acts 
by  the  North- 


ineffectual,"  viz. 

the  assertion  in 
usual,  opposed 
except  the  noble 

is  not  the  fad. 

but  those  agents 
ent,  with  the  c- 


18 


135 

West  Company  themselves,  state  to  be  no  felony  ? 
*^  From  the  best  legal  opinions  in  this  country,"  say 
the  Representatives,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  of  the  1st  of  February,  1816,  "  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  proceed  further,  as  the  defendants'*  (Mr« 
Miles  Macdonell,  and  Mr.  Spencer)  evidently  acted 
under  a  misapprehension  of  authority,  and  no  suffi- 
cient proof  can  be  adduced  of  a  felonious  intent."* 
As  the  Representatives  of  the  North- West  Compa- 
ny thus  pay  proper  respect  to  the  opinions  of  their 
legal  advisers,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  may  also 
be  permitted  to  confide  in  the  learned  Counsel  whom 
they  have  consulted,  and  by  whose  sanction  the  Re- 
solutions alluded  to  were  entered  into. 


No.  15,  16,  17,  and  18. 

Th<^se  are  depositions  taken  of  several  of  the 
clerkb  and  others  in  the  North-West  Company's  ser- 
vice, and  relate  to  the  aggressions  stated  to  have 
been  committed  against  that  Company,  chiefly  by 
Mr.  Colin  Robertson.  It  may  be  recollected,  that 
after  the  dispersion  of  the  settlers  in  the  summer  of 
IdI5,  when  those  of  the  colonists,  who  would  not  be 
seduced  by  the  North- West  Company,  had  gone  to 


*  See  ApronUix  to  "  Narrative,"  No.  26,  page  19,  in  which 
the  r^.,n9el  employed  by  the  North- West  Company  say,  that 
they  (Macdonell  and  Spencer)  could  not  be  properly  convict- 
e4  on  a  charge  of  felony. 


jfc 


3    '•! 


'■V! 


*! 


i    \ 


\  -  ^ 


% 


■j^'i-^jiiJ^ti;:^ 


11^ 'I 


136  ^ 

Jack  River  House,  at  the  north  end  of  Lake  Win- 
nipiCf  they  were  soon  afterwards  accidentally  joined 
at  that  place  bj  Mr.  Robertsonf  who  was  engaged 
in  (he  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Find- 
ing that  these  seillers  were  disposed  to  return  to  the 
Red  River,  he  volunteered  to  take  charge  of  them ; 
and,  with  the  addition  of  a  few  Canadians  who  were 
with  him,  they  accordingly  went  back  to  the  Settle- 
ment.* 

Throughout  the  "  Narrative,"  an  impression  is 
attempted  to  be  fixed  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader, 
by  those  who  represent  the  North- West  Company, 
that  Mr.  Robertson  was  an  agent  of  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk ;  and  that  whatever  measures  were  adopted 
by  that  gentleman  after  the  return  of  the  settlers, 
Lord  Selkirk  is  to  be  considered  accountable  for 
them.  Mr.  Robertson,  however,  was  neither  an 
agent  for  Lord  Selkirk,  nor  in  any  shape  engaged, 
or  employed  by  him,  or  under  his  directions.  Lord 
Selkirk,  indeed,  was  ignorant,  till  the  spring  of  1816, 
that  the  Colony  was  re-established.  Lagimoniere, 
the  Canadian  who  brought  from  Red  River  to 
Montreal  the  intelligence  of  its  re-establishment, 
found,  to  his  surprise,  that  his  Lordship  was  in  that 
place.  Neither  Mr.  Robertson  nor  the  settlers  knew 
that  he  was  in  America ;  and  Lagimoniere,  on  his 
way  back  to  the  settlement,  having  been  way-laid, 
and  robbed  of  his  letters,  &c.  by  the  directions  oi 
the  North- West  Company,  and  prevented  from  pro- 


■   i 


*  s 


ee  page  G8  of  Statemc  t. 


Kf«-«<»«.,"  .«(*,* 


137 

ceeding  to  Red  Rirer,*  the  colonists  knew  nothing 
of  Lord  Selkirk's  being  in  Canada,  till  they  were 
informed  of  it  after  the  second  destruction  of  the 
settlement,  when  met,  in  their  journey  towards  the 
coast  of  Hudson's  Bay,  by  Mr.  Norman  M'Lcod  and 
the  other  partners,  as  has  been  already  stated.t 

The  depositions  above  mentioned  (No.  15,  16, 
17,  and  18,)  detail  various  acts  of  alleged  violence, 
and  felony,  ascribed  to  Mr.  Robertson.  If  he  has 
committed  such  acts,  he,  of  course,  will  be  amenable 
to  the  law  for  what  he  may  have  done.  He  will, 
however,  be  heard  in  his  defence ;  and  the  reader 
who  recollects  what  has  been  already  stated  relative 
to  I'p  r»'ots  which  were  discovered  to  be  again  pre- 
pa  j'k  'gainst  the  colonists,  and  "  the  storm  gather- 
ing m  the  North,"  which  was  to  burst  on  the  heads 
of  the  settlers,!  kc.  will  probably  think  that  Mr.  Ro" 
bertson's  defence  will  not  prove  unsuccessful.  But 
whether  the  result  be  his  acquittal,  or  his  conviction, 
in  neither  case  can  it  be  admitted  that  his  conduct, 
right  or  wrong,  can,  in  any  shape,  excuse  or  palliate 
the  aggression  and  outrage  instigated  by  the  North- 
West  Company  against  the  Settlement. 


u 


No.  19. 


This  is  also  a  Deposition  of  one  of  the  Clerks  of 
the  North-West  Company ;  and  is  produced  for  the 

*  See  note,  page  41.  t  See  page  90  of  Statement. 

\  See  page  71  of  Statement. 

T 


t 


fc,n  -  'I 


138 

purpose  of  proving  that  Mr.  Alexander  M^Donell, 
the  Company's  partner,  whom  we  have  seen  so  active 
in  the  destruction  of  the  Red  River  Settlement,  in 
the  years  IBl.*)  and  1816,  meant  no  harm  to  the  set- 
tlers, when  he  sent  off  his  armed  party  of  Bois-Brulcs 
under  Cuthbert  Grant,  from  the  Portage  des  Prai- 
ries ;  bit  that  he  directed  them  '^  not  to  go  near  the 
CcitablisLment  or  colony  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, near  the  Forks  of  the  Red  River,  nor  on  any 
account  co  molest  any  of  the  settlers,"  &c.  &c.  This 
affidavit  requires  no  observation.*' 


No.  20,  21,  and  22. 


\ 


These  depositions  relate  chiefly  to  the  proceedings 
which  occurred  at  Fort  William  on  Tjake  Superior, 
when  Lord  Selkirk  first  arrived  at  that  place :  and  as 
the  account  of  those  transactions  occupies  a  great  part 
of  the  "Narrative  of  Occurrences,"  the  remarks  with 
respect  to  them  shall  be  offered  when  we  advert  to 
the  work  itself  generally,  as  referring  to  that  part  of 
the  subject.  The  substance  of  these  depositions, 
(No.  20,  21,  and  22,)  shall  then  be  noticed.f 

It  should  be  observed,  however,  that,  with  respect 
to  No.  20,  viz.  the  Deposition  of  Lieutenants  Brumby 
and  Misani^  their  affidavit  purports  to  be  ''  sworn 
at  Montreal ;"  but  the  name  of  no  magistrate  is 
affixed  to  it.  In  ordinary  cases,  such  an  omission 
would  not  be  worth  mentioning,  and  might  naturally 


*  See  Statement,  p.  71.  79,  &c.         t  See  Observations,  p.  158. 


)• 


•s,<<*'*«r^- 


139 


be  ascribed  to  an  accidental  mistake  in  the  copy,  or  to 
an  error  of  the  press.  But,  in  everj  thing  which 
relates  to  the  "  ample  materials**  before  us,  the 
reader  cannot  be  too  much  on  his  guard ;  and  in  the 
case  of  the  document  in  question,  it  is  not  at  all 
unlikely  ihat  it  will  be  subsequently  found  that  no 
affidavit  was  made  at  all,  or  that,  for  some  purpose 
which  is  not  avowed,  it  has  not  been  deemed  prudent 
to  annex  the  name  of  the  magistrate  by  whom  the 
deposition  was  taken.  As  the  document,  however, 
purports  to  be  signed  by  two  British  officers,  it  shall 
be  looked  upon,  in  this  case,  as  of  equal  weight  with  a 
more  regular  deposition,  and  considered  accordingly. 


No.  23. 


"  To  the  Right  Honourable  Earl  Bathurst,  His  Ma- 
jesty's Principal  Secretary  of  State  for  War  ana 
Colonies. 

"  The  Memorial  and  Petition  of  M^Tavish,  Fraser, 
and  Co.  and  Inglis^  Ellice^  and  Co.  of  London, 
Merchants,  on  their  own  behalf  and  on  behalf  of 
other  persons  interested  in  the  JYorth-  West  Company 
of  Fur  Traders  of  Canada.''^ 

This  Memorial  does  not  appear  to  require  much 
notice  in  these  Observations.  His  Majesty's  Go- 
vernment, to  whom  it  was  officially  addressed,  were 
the  best  judges  of  its  object  and  contents.  The 
memorialists,  it  would  seem,  received  only  a  verbal 
answer  to  their  application,  intimating  that  Govern- 
ment would  attend  to  the  subject,  which  teas  one  of 


m 


% 


I 


I*' 


M: 
W 


(>*.r« ' 


/'i 


'^mZ...^ 


II 


>..  1 


140 

gnat  dijJicuUy.''''*  What  the  difficulty  was  is  not 
stated.  It  was,  probably,  found  not  an  easy  matter 
officially  to  answer  the  application  of  parties  who 
seemed,  in  their  assertions,  to  take  so  little  pains  to 
be  consistent.  It  could  not  reasonably  be  expected, 
that  the  prayer  of  a  memorial  would  readily  be  ac- 
ceded to,  which  applied  for  a  convoy  to  be  granted 
by  the  Admiralty  '*  to  protect  the  property  of  the 
memorialists  against  any  attempts  on  the  part  of  the 
armed  vessels  of  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company,^'  with- 
out its  being  previously  shown,  (which  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  attempted,)  that  that  Company 
either  had  the  intention,  or  the  power,  to  molest 
them.  Besides,  a  petition  of  "  persons  interested  in 
the  North- West  Company  of  fur  traders  of  Cana- 
da,^^  stating,  among  other  misfortunes,  that  they 
had  been  obliged  to  conduct  their  trade  through 
that  country,  Canada,  for  a  long  course  of  years,  to 
great  disadvantage,  certainly  could  not  appear  very 
intelligible.  "  Your  memorialists,"  say  they,  "  have 
hitherto  respected  the  supposed  rights  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  by  not  opening  through  the 
territories  which  they  claim  as  their  property  under 
their  Charter,  the  more  direct,  and  expeditious 
communication  from  Lake  Winipic  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  but  have  been  contented,  for  a  long  series 
of  years,  to  conduct  their  trade  through  the  pro- 
vince of  Canada,  to  their  serious  inconvenience  and 
disadvantage;  the  route  from  Lake  Winipic  to 
Montreal   exceeding   in  distance  2500  miles,  and 

*  *  See  "  Narrative,"  page  12!}. 


'41 

requiring  a  period  of  80  days  to  effect  it,  thai  io 
Hudson's  Bay  being  only  500  miles,  and  affording, 
in  every  respect,  greater  facilities."  But  although, 
in  one  part  of  their  memorial,  they  thus  take  merit 
for  having  hitherto  respected  these  supposed  rights ; 
in  another,  they  say,  they  '^  have  ever  contended 
that  these  rights  are  only  nominal."  Why  rights, 
asserted  to  be  only  nominal,  should  have  been  thus 
respected,  so  that  a  powerful  body  of  British  mer- 
chants (whose  mercantile  returns  are  stated,  in  their 
Memorial,  to  be  four  times  greater  than  those  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company)  should  thereby  have  been 
subjected  to  serious  disadvantage  for  a  long  course 
of  years,  could  certainly  not  appear  very  obvious. 
But  their  forbearance  is  still  more  unaccountable, 
when  it  is  observed  that  the  same  parties  (in  their 
"Narrative,"  page  13.)  have  expressly  declared 
"  that  they  would  neither  acknowledge  the  exclusive 
right  of  trade,"  (a  right  which  appears,  even  by 
their  own  memorial,  not  to  have  been  claimed  or 
exercised,)*  "  or  power  of  jurisdiction  claimed  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company."  And  it  is  also  worthy 
of  remark,  that,  at  the  very  moment  when  the  Com- 
pany's Agents  in  England  were  presenting  to  his 
Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  a  memorial,  in  which 
they  denied  the  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Charter, 
the  Company's  Agents  in  Canada  were  presenting 
another  to  the  same  Department  (through  Sir  George 


^. 


# 


I 


*  See  their  Memorial,  (page  57  of  Appendix  to  Narrative,)  by 
which  it  appears,  that  the  Canadians  have  carried  on  their  trade 
through  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  without 
obstruction. 


I 


m^.,J^ 


142 

Provost,  the  Governor  of  the  colony)  in  which  they 
admitted  those  rights,  requesting  the  Governor  *'  to 
intercede  with  his  Majesty^s  Government,  to  use  their 
influence  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  induce 
their  acceding  to  the  application  of  their  correspond- 
ents in  London,  for  a  permission  to  send,  annually, 
(whilst  the  obstruction  to  the  usual  communication 
through  Canada  should  continue,)  a  vessel,  for  the 
purpose  of  carry  in  <^  in  provisions  and  supplies  for  the 
North- West  Compaiiy^s  trade,  and  bring  out  their 
returns."  It  could  not,  therefore,  be  a  very  easy 
matter  for  his  Majesty's  Government  distinctly  to 
perceive  in  the  applications  thus  made  on  behalf  of 
the  persons  interested  in  the  North-West  Company, 
what  rights  they  seemed  inclined  to  allow,  and  what 
to  deny :  rights,  some  of  which  they  fully  admit  in 
their  "  Protest" — refuse  to  acknowledge  in  their 
"  Narrative" — respect  in  one  of  their  "  Memorials" — 
and,  in  the  other,  to  prevent  the  exercise  ofthem,  apply 
for  an  Mmiralty  convoy. 

Nor  do  they  appear  to  be  more  distinct  with  re- 
spect to  their  account  of  that  line  of  communication, 
by  Hudson's  Bay,  which  they  have  thus  forborne  to 
open,  and  which  (compared  to  that  by  Montreal) 
they  describe  in  their  memorial,  as  "  affording,  in 
every  respect,  greater  facilities."  For,  in  their  Nar- 
rative, (page  IB,)  we  find  them  describing  this  line 
af  communication  as  ''  the  route  the  most  difficult  in 
the  country,  even  for  athletic  and  experienced  bat- 
teaux  men,  who  have  to  carry  and  drag  their  boats  a 
considerable  part  of  the  distance  over  rough  and  un- 
trodden roads  and  rugged  precipices,  and  through 
dangerous  rapids  and  waterfalls." 


[  iiv 


H3 


Nos.  24,  25,  26,  and  27. 

These  are  official  letters  from  the  same  parties, 
who  presented  the  preceding  memorial,  to  his  Majes- 
tj*s  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  and  which, 
(as  it  would  appear  from  the  Narrative,  page  128,) 
shared  the  same  fate  with  that  document,  a  verbal 
answer  only  having  been  given.  If  any  reply  of  a 
more  official  description  was  received,  the  parties 
have  not  thought  fit  to  produce  it. 


No.  28. 

"  Deposition  of  D,  M^KenzieJ*^ 

Mr.  M^Kenzie  describes  himself,  in  his  affidavit,  as 
being  "  a  retired,  or  dormant,  partner  of  the  North- 
West  Company."  His  affidavit  is  very  long,  and 
accompanied  by  numerous  documents  which  have 
been  given  in  as  forming  part  of  his  deposition,  the 
purport  of  which  is  shortly  as  follows : — That  he  was 
one  of  the  partners  apprehended  at  Fort  William  by 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk ;  and  when  the  others  were  sent 
off,  (as  already  narrated)*  he  requested  permission 
from  Lord  Selkirk  to  accompany  them,  but  was 
refused  ;  that  he  was  then  confined  in  a  dark  dun- 
geon, and,  while  in  such  confinement,  every  method 
was  taken  by  Lord  Selkirk,  and  by  those  whom  he 
employed,  to  induce  the  prisoner  to  do  every  thing 
which  they  directed,  and  to  yield  implicit  obedience 

*  See  Statement,  page  G5. 


I      J 


fe;:  t^ 


&  ^i  ^ 


144 

to  all  that  might  be  required  of  him.  That,  at 
length,  wearied  out  by  confinement  and  importunity, 
and  having  expressed  a  wish  to  do  as  they  advised, 
provided  they  released  him  from  his  dungeon,  he  was 
accordingly  removed  to  another  part  of  the  building, 
but  still  kept  a  close  prisoner  under  a  guard ;  that 
he  at  length  yielded  implicit  obedience  to  what  was 
required  of  him,  being  frequently  kept  in  a  state  of 
intoxication,  and  for  six  weeks  wrote  whatever  was 
dictated ;  papers  being  brought  for  him  to  sign,  and 
deeds  to  execute.  That,  in  consequence  of  having 
thus  yielded  implicit  obedience  to  the  orders  and 
commands  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  he  was  discharged 
from  his  imprisonment ;  upon  which  he  immediately 
went  to  the  nearest  Notary  Public,  and  signed  a  Pro- 
test against  all  that  had  been  done  with  respect  to 
him,  and  against  every  thing  which  he  had  been  so 
prevailed  upon,  or  compelled,  to  execute. 

Without  being  put  in  possession  of  Lord  Selkirk's 
account  of  the  transactions  which  may  have  taken 
place  between  himself  and  Mr.  M'Kenzie ;  and  until 
his  Lordship  has  an  opportunity  of  answering  those 
heavy  charges  this  exhibited  against  him,  the  reader 
will  probably  not  be  disposed  to  put  much  reliance 
upon  the  accusations  contained  in  Mr.  M'Kenzie's 
deposition.  Better  information  than  what  appears 
to  be  conveyed  by  his  affidavit,  must  be  looked  for, 
before  credit  is  to  be  given  to  assertions  which  bear 
with  them  so  little  .the  appeorance  of  credibility. 
This  deposition,  it  should  be  observed,  contains  a 
%pry  long  and  minute  detail  of  the  tyrannical  and 


^l|. 


145 

disgraceful  means  alleged  to  have  been  taken  to  in- 
fluence the  deponent.  In  his  afllidavit,  he  details,  in 
great  order,  the  proceedings  instigated  by  Lord  Sel- 
kirk, Captain  D'Orsonnens,  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell, 
Dr.  Allen,  and  others,  in  order  to  prevail  upon  him 
to  submit  himself  entirely  to  their  directions.  Ho 
states,  with  great  precision,  the  purport,  and,  in  se- 
veral cases,  the  very  words  of  conversations  asserted 
to  have  occurred  for  the  purpose  of  seducing  him ; 
in  short,  he  produces  a  circumstantial  and  detailed 
Report  of  every  thing  that  happened ;  and  to  the 
truth  of  all  this  he  swears^  having  alieady  solemnly 
declared,  in  a  protest  before  a  Notary  Public,  (which 
protest  is  attached  to  his  afllidavit,)  that  during  the 
whole  period  in  which  the  transactions  in  question 
took  place,  he,  the  Deponent,  was  drunk  and  de- 
ranged !  namely,  "  from  the  13th  of  August  to  the 
11th  of  October,  1816;  during  all  which  time,''  says 
this  dormant  partner,  *'l  was  in  a  state  of  inebriety, 
and  actual  derangement  of  mind.''  The  reader, 
therefore,  will  doubtless  require  some  more  substan- 
tial proof  of  the  serious  accusations  which  are  thua 
made  by  the  North-West  Company  against  Lord 
Selkirk,  and  the  gentlemen  who  accompanied  him 
into  the  interior  of  North-America,  than  the  asser- 
tions of  a  deponent,  who  has  put  upon  record,  that 
he  was  in  a  state  of  intoxication  during  all  the  time 
in  which  those  facts  and  circumstances  occurred,  to 
the  truth  of  which  he  has  solemnly  sworn. 

The  reader  will  also  naturally  inquire,  why  M". 
D.  M'Kenzie,  who  is  stated  to  have  made  his  protest 


I 


m ' 


146 

before  a  Notary  Public  at  Drumtnond'  Tslandton 
the  1 1th  of  November,  did  not  make  bii  affidavit  till 
three  weeks  afterwards ;  viz.  the  2d  of  December, 
It  cannot  be  said  that  he  could  not  find  an  acting  ma- 
gistrate to  take  his  deposition  at  that  place,  because 
the  name  of  one  appears  affixed  as  witness  to  the 
protest  itself.  The  Representatives  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  of  course,  wish  it  to  be  believed, 
that  Mr.  M^Kouzie  showed  a  laudable  anxiety  to 
protest  before  a  Notary  Public,  as  soon  as  an  oppor- 
tunity offered  for  that  purpose.  But  if  he  was  right 
in  losing  no  time  in  making  his  Protest,  he  must 
have  been  wrong  in  unnecessarily  delaying  his  De- 
position. The  fact  will  probably  turn  out  to  be  this, 
that  Mr.  M^Kenzie  neither  intended  to  make  the  one 
nor  the  other. 

The  Narrative  proceeds  by  stating,  that,  "  after 
complying  with  these  terms,  "  he,''  (M'Kenzie,)  was 
immediately  released ;  pn6  as  far  as  he  could  make 
atonement  for  his  conduct  to  his  partners,  before  he 
could  have  any  communication  with  them,  he  appears 
to  have  attempted  it  by  the  protest,  &c."  It  does  not 
seem,  however,  that  this  repentant  partner  was,  after 
his  release,  in  so  very  great  a  hurry  to  atone  for  his 
sins,  and  obtain  absolution,  as  those  concerned  for 
the  North-West  Company  wish  it  to  be  believed.  In 
this  part  of  their  Narrative,  indeed,  it  is  evident  that 
they  are  anxious  to  be  very  guarded  in  their  asser- 
tions :  *'  As  far  as  he  could  make  atonement,"  say 
they,  ^^for  his  conduct  to  his  partners,  before  any  com- 
munication with  them,  he  appears  to  have  attempted 
it  by  the  protest,  &c."  He  appears  to  have  attempted. 


''s* 


147 


Butt  among  all  the  "  ample  maferials"  furnished  by 
their  constituents,  have  the  representatives  received 
nothing  bj  which  iV  also  appears  that  this  part  of  their 
Narrative  cannot  be  true ;  and  that  Mr.  M^Kenzie 
had  communication  with  his  partners  before  he  made 
bis  protest?  Has  no  document  reached  them  with 
the  information  that  Mr.  M^Kenzie  had  determined 
to  become  an  evidence  for  the  Crown,  in  support  of 
the  criminal  charges  brought  against  several  of  he 
partners  who  had  been  apprehended?  that,  with 
such  intention,  he  had  proceeded  on  his  way  to  Mon- 
treal, and  had  passed  the  Sault  St.  Mary,  St.  Joseph  j 
and  Drummond's  Island,  without  applying  either  to 
Magistrate,  or  Notary  Public,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  protest  or  affidavit  ?  that  afterwards,  in  his 
route  to  Lower  Canada,  he  was  met,  upon  the  5th  or 
6th  of  November,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  by 
one  of  his  partners  who  had  been  apprehended,  but 
admitted  to  bail,  and  who  carried  him  back  a  priso- 
ner, (as  he  stated  to  Mr.  Pritchard,  who  was  with 
him)  to  Drummond^s  Island  ?  and  that,  subsequent 
to  this  communication  with  his  partner,  namely,  on 
the  1 1  th  of  November,  and  not  till  then,  was  the  pro- 
test made,  which  is  now  exhibited,  and  whir^.  after 
an  interval  of  three  weeks'  preparation,  was  ioi'uwed 
by  that  deposition  which  is  thus  produced  to  the  pub- 
lic in  the  Appendix  to  their  Narrative?  The  public, 
however,  will  doubtless  postpone  ifi  j  Jiigment  upon 
these  matterd,  until  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  fur- 
ther information  be  afforded :  And,  with  respect  to 
those  transactions  which  may  have  occurred  between 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk  and  Mr.  M'Kenzie  (as  a  partner 


in 


M 


118 

of  the  North<West  Company)  in  as  far  as  relates  to 
the  transfer,  bj  the  latter  to  the  formerf  of  a  portion 
of  the  Company's  property,  whatever  may  be  the  re- 
sult of  such  conveyance,  if  contested  in  a  court  of 
law,  it  is  evident  that  Lord  Selkirk  considered  it  as 
legal  and  objectionable,  otherwise  there  never  could 
have  appeared  in  the  deed  or  agreement  an  express 
clause,  by  which  arbitrators  were  to  be  nominated  in 
England  by  the  Lords  Chief  Justices  of  the  Courts 
of  King's  Bench  and  Common  Pleas.  Nor  can  it  be 
credited,  that  if  Lord  Selkirk  had  considered  the  pur- 
chase alluded  to  in  the  Narrative  to  be  illegal,  or  li- 
able to  any  objection,  he  would  ever  have  permitted 
those  fragments  of  original  papers,  rough  draughts 
of  clauses,  provisions,  &c.  (which  passed  between 
the  parties  in  preparing  the  conveyance)  to  have  re- 
mained in  the  posesssion,  as  is  stated,  of  Mr*  M'Ken- 
zio,  the  person  whom,  according  to  the  assertion  of 
the  Representatives  of  the  North-West  Company,  his 
Lordship  was  so  shamefully  deceiving;  and  whieli 
documents  they  so  triumphantly  produce,  as  incon- 
testable proof  of  his  guilt. 


[No.  29.] 

♦'  Deposition  of  Robert  M'Robb.^'* 

This  is  the  second  deposition  (in  the  Appendix  to 
the  Narrative)  of  Mr.  Robert  M*Robb,  who  seems  to 
be  a  very  useful  clerk  of  the  North-West  Company. 


% 


II  ■  i'<wi<CT 


as  relates  to 
of  a  portion 
ay  be  the  re- 
n  a  court  of 
isidercd  it  as 
!  never  could 
nt  an  express 
nominated  in 
if  the  Courts 
Nor  can  it  be 
lered  the  pur* 
I  illegal,  or  li- 
ave  permitted 
lUgh  draughts 
ssed  between 
e)  to  have  re* 
f  Mr.  M'Ken- 
e  assertion  of 
Company,  his 
;  and  whieli 
uce,  as  incoit- 


e  Appendix  to 
who  seems  to 
est  Company. 


149 

His  hand-writing  appears  every  where  throughout 
the  Book  of  account  formerly  alluded  to,  in  which 
those  bribes,  and  prices  of  stolen  goods,  were  regis- 
tered, which  were  paid  to  the  settlers  who  had  de- 
serted, and  pillaged  the  Red  Riv^r  Settlement.  In 
most  of  these  cases  Mr.  M^Robb  was  the  channel  by 
which  the  payments  were  made,  and  the  accounts 
balanced. 

His  deposition  does  not  contain  any  thing  of  much 
importance.  He  also  gives  little  fragments  of  con- 
versations which  are  stated  to  have  occurred,  insert- 
ing as  usual,  in  Italics,  the  precise  words  which  are 
declared  to  have  passed,  with  a  prudent  salvo  sub- 
joined to  them  of  **  or  somewhat  to  that,  or  the  like 
effect."  The  principal  object,  however,  of  the 
deposition,  is  to  inform  the  reader  that  a  warrant  had 
been  issued  by  D.  Milchill,£sq.a  justice  of  the  peace 
in  Upper  Canada,  to  arrest  Lord  Selkirk  en  a  charge 
of  felony;  and  that  the  deponent  proceeded  with 
"  one  Robinson,  who  was, as  the  deponent  understood, 
a  constable,  or  public  officer  of  some  such  description," 
to  carry  the  warrant  into  execution ;  but  it  would  ap- 
pear that  his  Lordship,  so  far  from  being  disposed  to 
yield  submission  to  the  Writ,  was  more  inclined  to 
arrest  the  Constable,  '^  or  somewhat  to  that  or  the 
like  effect." 

Had  Mr.  Robert  M'Robb  been  pleased  to  have 
been  a  little  more  communicative  in  his  Deposition, 
he  might  have  added,  that  after  the  North-West 
Company^s  partners,  whom  Lord  Selkirk  had  appre- 
hended, had  been  admitted  to  bail  at  Montreal,  seve- 
ral of  them  immediately  returned  to  Upper  Canada, 


I '     '4 


ill 


i 


H 


traversing  that  Province  :o  and  fro  for  the  purpose 
of  discovering,  if  possible,  a  magistrate  who  would 
grant  a  criminal  warrant  against  the  Earl  of  Selkirk, 
and  against  several  of  the  gentlemen  who  were  with 
him,  on  a  charge  of  robbery ;  that  they  applied  sepa* 
rately  to  the  Judges  of  Upper  Canada,  who,  seeing 
no  grounds  for  the  charge,  refused  the  warrant: 
that  they  at  length,  however,  found  a  magistrate, 
who,  though  not  generally  acting  in  that  capacity, 
they  conceived  might  serve  their  purpose,  and  prove 
of  a  more  accommodating  character  than  the  Judges 
of  the  Province :  and  that  Mr.  D.  Mitchell  according- 
ly issued  this  warrant,  which  appears,  by  Mr. 
M'Robb's  affidavit,  to  have  been  treated  with  so  lit- 
tle ceremony.  The  reason  of  its  being  so  treated  is 
stated  pretty  plainly  in  a  letter  from  Lord  Selkirk  to 
Mr.  Gore,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Upper  Cana- 
da ;  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 


«•  Fort  William,  jYovember  12,  1816. 

«  Sir, 

"  A  few  days  ago  a  canoe  arrived  here  bringing  two 
clerks  of  the  North-  West  Company,  accompanied  by 
a  man  who  gave  himself  out  as  being  a  constable 
charged  with  the  arrest  of  several  gentlemen  here, 
and  myself  among  the  rest.  On  examining  his  war- 
rant, I  observed  it  to  be,  in  several  respects,  irregular, 
and  founded  on  the  recital  of  an  affidavit  full  of  the 
grossest  perjuries.  It  was  signed  by  Dr.  Mitchell, 
of  Drummond's  Island,  whose  notorious  habits  of 
intemperance  render  it,  in  the  highest  degree,  pro- 


':jiWjmi.T""J 


C'      ■«? 


nber  12,  1816. 


151 

bable,  that  his  signature  had  been  obtained  sur- 
reptitiously. The  constable,  when  asked  whether 
he  had  any  letters  or  credentials  of  any  kind* 
could  produce  none,  which  confirmed  the  idea  of 
his  being  an  impostor.'*  It  is,  therefore,  not  much 
to  be  wondered  at  that  his  Lordship  shcu!'!  state,  in 
continuation,  to  Governor  Gore,  thut,  *^  Unuer  these 
circumstances,  I  trust  it  will  not  be  ascribed  to 
any  disposition  to  resist  the  regular  execution  of 
the  law,  if  the  gentlemen  concerned  did  not  think 
fit  to  go  five  hundred  miles  across  such  waters  as 
Lake  Superior  at  this  season  of  the  year,  in  com- 
pliance with  a  form  of  a  process,  which  there 
was  every  reason  to  believe  irregular  and  surrepti- 
tious." 


Having  thus  taken  a  cursory  view  of  those  mate- 
rials which  the  Representatives  of  the  North- West 
Company  have  introduced  into  the  Appendix  of  their 
Narrative,  and  which,  in  their  preface,  they  have 
declared,  "  will  be  found  to  contain  positive  proof  of 
almost  every  fact  asserted  in  the  text,"  a  few  obser- 
vations shall  now  be  submitted  with  respect  to  the 
Narrative  itself. 

In  perusing  their  Work,  it  appears  very  evident 
how  conscious  they  are  that  the  unremitting  aggres- 
sion instigated  against  the  Red  River  Colony,  cannot 
fail  to  be  ascribed  to  that  body  which  they  represent. 


Hi 


m 


m 


vii 


i 


N( 


U: 


152 

For  the  term  aggression,  !iowever,  they  wish  to  sub- 
stitute that  o(  retaliation.  As  an  excuse  for  the  acts 
which  occurred,  great  pains  are  taken  to  convince 
theii  readers  that  these  acts  were  entirely  owing  to 
the  20'ouct  of  Lord  Selkirk  and  his  agents.  Accord- 
ing to  their  account,  the  cause  of  the  fatal  occurren- 
ces which  took  place  is  tn  be  found  in  the  feloni- 
ous conduct  of  Mr.  Miles  Macdoneil,  who,  as  ap- 
pears bj  the  opinion  of  their  own  legal  advisers, 
could  not  he  properly  convicted  on  a  charge  of  felo- 
ny. In  their  letter,  indeed,  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  of  Ist  February,  1816,  they  do  not  venture  to 
allege  more  against  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  than  that 
he  "acted  under  a  misapprehension  of  authority j" 
adding,  that  "  no  sufficient  proof  could  be  adduced 
"  of  a  felonious  intent.'^  The  irausactions  in  which 
that  gentleman  was  concerned  have  been  already,  and 
fairly,  narrated  ;*  but,  even  had  hiL^  acts  been  such 
as  the  North- West  Company  wish  to  represent  them; 
yet,  in  no  shape,  and  with  no  s<;mblance  of  justice, 
oould  they  aiTord  an  excuse  for  th&  measures  adopted 
with  regard  to  the  settlers,  by  the  partners  of  tha'c 
Company.  Their  Representatives,  he  wever,  endea- 
vour to  screen  aud  to  exculpate  indiscriminately 
every  one  of  these  partners.  Even  Mr.  Duncan 
Cameron,  and  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell,  are  de- 
fended, by  tliem  !  The  former  they  describe  as  "  a 
man  of  determined  resolution,  but,  unfortunately, 
of  an    irritable    tenjper."t     Unfortunately    of  an 


*  Sec  piige  2G  of  Statement,  and  also  Appendix,  [B.] 
t  See  Narrative,  page  3'?. 


•!t 


153 


irritable  temper  !  A  man  who  deliberately  sat  down 
for  ten  months  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
the  colony,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  corrupting  the 
Settlers,  and  seducing  the  contracted  servants  of  the 
Establishment  \*  and  who,  bj  a  cool  and  systematic 
perseverance  in  meanness,  falsehood,  threats,  and 
bribery,  and  afterwards  by  violent  and  repeated 
attacks  with  fire-arms,  succeeded  in  ruining  a  set- 
tlement of  his  fellow-subjects,  who  had  never  given 
the  slightest  ground  for  his  malevolence  !  And  yet 
must  these  Representatives  justify  this  Constituent ! 
**  Mr.  Cameron  is  accused,"  say  they,  '*  of  having 


(s 


*  It  was  mentioned  in  the  Statement,  (page  13,  &c.,  that  Mr. 
D.  Cameron,  Alexander  M'Donell,  and  others,  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  in  order  to  exert  undue  influence  over  the  set- 
tlers, had  pretended  that  they  held  King's  commissions,  and  were 
vested  with  authority  and  command  in  the  interior.  This  im- 
posture is  now  admitted  by  the  North- West  Company,  who,  in 
a  note  to  the  Postscript  of  their  Narrative,  (page  134,)  say, 
"  Mr.  Cameron  was  appointed,  by  a  commission  from  Sir  George 
Prevost,  to  the  rank  of  Captain,  '  in  the  Indian  and  conquered 
countries,  during  the  war  -,"  but  he  certainly  had  no  greater 
right  to  assi'ime  that  rank  in  the  Red  River,  than  the  officers  of 
(Governor  Macdonell's  appointment" — who  did  not  assume  any 
such  rank  xvhatsoever.  These  delusive  pretensions,  however, 
to  authority  and  importance,  are  probably  all,  ere  now,  dissi- 
pated by  the  following  Order  of  Sir  John  Sherbrooke  ; — 

"  GFNERAL  ORDER. 

«'  Headquarters,  Quebec,  11  th  August,  1816. 

"  His  iiixceiitiu-y  the  Governor  in  Chief  and  Commander  of 
the  Forces,  is  pleased  to  cancel  and  annul  the  Militit  and  Pro- 
vincial Riuik,  in  the  Indian  and  conquered  countries,  conferred 


f  I 


i  / 


/ 


t 


154 

made  use  of  all  the  influence  he  possessed  with  his 
countrymen,  to  persuade  them  to  desert  the  colony. 
1/  this  he  the  facty  whatever  may  have  been  his 
motives,  every  humane  person  wii!  rcjuioe  that  hk 
ir^iiuence  was  successful."  The  true  nmsitihg  of 
which  is  this,  that  We,  who  represent  the  interests  of 
the  Caaadiai)  Fur  Traders,  pronounce  the  colonists 
at  Red  River  to  be  very  unhappy.  It  would  be  kind^, 


by  General  or  Garrison  Orders,  or  by  commi:t?ion8,  cu  ihe  wn- 
der-mentioned  persons,  as  ^rell  as  a!l  others  holding  rank  under 
'h«  same  authority. 


Captain  Kenneth  M^Kenzit, 
Duncan  Cameron, 
John  M^Gillivray, 

Lieut.  John  M'Donald, 
Alex.  M'Donell, 

Ensign  Seraphim  La  Mar. 


lA.  Col.  W.  MKay, 

W.  MGillivray, 
Major  A.  Norman  M^Leod, 
Toutsaint  Pothier, 
Alex.  M^Kemie, 
P.  De  Rochblave, 
Captain  James  Hughes^ 

(Signed)  J.  HARVEY,  Lieut.  Col.  D.  A.  G." 

By  a  deposition,  recently  taken  itt  Montreal,  of  Blondeau,  one 
of  the  servants  of  the  North-West  Company,  it  appears,  that 
when  Mr.  D.  Cameron  and  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell  were  set- 
ting oat  from  Fort  William,  in  the  summer  of  1014,  to  "  com- 
mence open  hostilities  against  the  enemy  in  Red  River,"  the 
Engagit,  Bois-BruUs,  &c.  were  assembled  by  Mr.  Norman 
M'Leod,  the  magistrate,  and  several  other  of  the  partners,  and 
an  oath  was  administered  to  them.  By  this  oath,  tbey  bound 
themselves  to  be  faithful  to  the  King,  and  obey  the  orders  of  Mr. 
Duncan  Cameron,  who  was  to  command  them,  as  they  were  told 
they  were  to  go  to  war.  Blon^^eau  refused  to  take  the  oath,  in 
consequence  of  which,  after  being  struck  by  Mr.  Norman 
M'Leod,  he  was  deprived  of  his  situation  as  guide  into  the  in- 
terior, and  was  detained  two  year^  nt  Fort  William,  away  from 
his  family. 


*#. 


>'^l'l,lii]ill  iMWiit»«it»f.w^^<.. ■■«.**-<>»# 


159 


ised  with  his 
t  t\m  colony. 
ye    been  his 

,tn-.e  thut  his 

le  interests  of 
the  colonists 
ould  be  kind, 


^ions,  ou  the  un- 
Iding  rank  under 

itieth  M^Kenzif, 
ncan  Cameron, 
m  M*Gillivray, 
n  M*Donaldt 
X.  M'Donell, 
aphim  La  Mar. 

Jol.  D.  A.  G." 

\  ■ 

of  Blondeau,  one 
,  it  appears,  that 
Donell  were  set- 
1814,  to  "  com- 
led  River,"  the 
ly  Mr.  Norman 
he  partners,  and 
)ath,  they  bound 
the  orders  of  Mr. 
as  they  were  told 
take  the  oath,  in 
by  Mr.  Norman 
ruide  into  the  in- 
lliam,  away  from 


therefore,  to  put  an  end  to  their  misery.  Let  us 
zealously  join  in  this  good  work.  We  may  begin  with 
the/aiV  means ;  (alluded  to  by  our  partner  Mr.  Alex- 
ander M*Donell ;)  but  if  these  do  not  succeed,  let  us 
try  the/oti/.  The  end  being  praiseworthy,  we  need 
not  scruple  as  to  the  tneans :  and  in  this  our  holy 
crusade  against  the  colony,  we  may  resort  to  the 
hatchet  of  the  Grandes  Oreilles,  to  complete  that 
which  the  humanity  of  Mr.  Cameron  may  fail  to  ac- 
complish. This  is  all  quite  consistent  with  what  (in 
the  preface  to  our  Narrative)  we  have  stated  of  our 
own  **  zeal  and  exertions  to  promote  the  true  inte- 
rests of  phUanthropy  and  humanity  !^** 

Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell  too,  is  held  up  in  the 
Narrative,  as  showing  humanity  and  consideration 
towards  the  settlers !  When  he  was  preparing,  at 
the  Portage  des  Prairies,  two  days  before  Governor 
Semple  and  his  people  were  killed,  to  let  loose 
Cuthbert  Grant  and  his  blood-hounds  against  the 
settlement,  the  Narrative  asserts,  that  *^  they,'^ 
(Grant*s  party,)  **  received  express  orders,  and  were 
strictly  enjoined  to  pass  at  a  distance  behind  Fort 
Douglas,  Semple^s  station,  and  the  colony,  to 
molest  no  person,  and,  if  po»sible,  to  avoid  all 
observation.''t  And  yet,  when  the  messenger  re- 
turns from  Cuthbert  Grant,  and  reports  to  M'Do- 
nell  that  a  number  of  those  colonists,  whom  he  had 
so  strictly  enjoined  not  to  be  molested,  were  killed  ; 
on  receiving  the  intelligence,  he  exclaims,  in  a  burst 


*  iSee  Preface  to  Narrative,  page  vii. 
t  See  page  51  of  Narrative. 


I'' 


ill 

'if 


\ 


I 


}'• 


156 

of  philanthropy,  **  Sacri  mm  de  Dieu !  Bonnes 
nouvelles!  Vingt'deux  jinglois  de  tuis  P^*  In  tho 
Postscript  to  their  Narrative,  the  advocates  for  the 
North-West  Companj  declare,  that  it  is  perfectly 
impossible  to  believe  that  these  expressions  of  joy 
could  have  been  thus  made  use  of.  But,  with 
respect  to  some  of  their  clients,  and  those  of  them 
whom  they  thus  seem  most  anxious  to  defend,  there 
is  nothing  which  it  is  impossible  to  believe.  The 
same  person  (M^Donell)  had  shortly  before  declar- 
ed to  the  Indian  chief  in  council,  that  **  if  the  colo- 
nists resisted,  the  ground  should  be  drenched  with 
their  blood."t  And  is  it  less  credible  that  the 
expressions  of  joy  above-mentioned  were  actually 
uttered,  than  that  a  feu  de  joye  was  fired  with  the 
guns  at  Fort  William,  when  the  intelligence  was 
brought  to  that  place  the  year  before,  that  the  colony 
was  then  destroyed,  the  colonists  dispersed,  and  their 
habitations  burnt  to  the  ground  ?  Nor  does  it  app&ar 
very  obvious,  why  the  reader  should  be  expected 
not  to  give  credit  to  the  joy  thus  stated"  to  have  been 
felt  and  expressed  by  such  a  man  us  Mr.  Alexander 
M'Donell — who,  on  receiving,  not  many  weeks  be- 
fore, the  intelligence  (false  it  is  earnestly  to  be 
hoped)  that  a  party  of  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company's 
servants  had  been  starved — and  that,  after  a  number 
of  them  had  for  some  time  been  under  the  horrible 
necessity  of  feeding  upon  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
comrades,  only  one  survivor  had  been  left  to  tell  the 


*  See  Statement,  page  79. 

t  See  Mr.  Pambrun's  deposition,  Appendix,  [V.]  p.  xxxiv. 


Ifl7 

tale,  loses  oo  time  in  communicatirig  by  letter  to  his 
partner,  Duncan  Cameron,  the  **  Glorious  News  from 
Athabasca  !"* 

lo  endeavouring  to  avert  from  themselves  the 
charge  of  having  unjustly  instigated  the  aggressions 
against  the  Red  River  Colony,  the  North- West  Com- 
pany attempt,  not  only  to  raise  a  strong  impression 
in  the  public  mind,  that  Lord  Selkirk,  or  his  agents, 
had  committed  acts  of  violence  sufficient  to  justify 
any  retaliation ;  but  they  even  resort,  in  their  Narra- 
tive, to  occurrences  which  took  place  subsequent  to 
the  aggression  itself,  in  the  hope  of  thereby  with- 
drawing the  reader's  attention  from  the  original 
charge.  In  order  to  create  a  belief,  that  their  own 
acts  have  been,  all  along,  just  and  honourable  with 
regard  to  the  Settlement,  they  produce  numerous  do- 
cuments to  prove,  that  Lord  Selkirk,  after  its  destruc- 
tion, has  conducted  himself  with  gross  violence  and 
outrage.  Among  the  acts  of  this  description,  with 
which  they,  charge  him,  are  his  taking  possession,  by 
military  force,  (as  they  state  it,)  of  their  trading  post  at 
Fort  William ;  robbing  them  of  all  their  property  in 
that  place ;  and  extending  the  same  system  of  rapine 
and  plunder  to  their  other  stations  in  the  interior. 

The  reasons  which  induced  Lord  Selkirk  to  go  to 
Fort  William,  (which  lay  entirely  out  of  his  intended 
line  of  route  to  the  Red  River,)  and  his  proceedings  at 
that  place,  with  respect  to  apprehending,  and  sending 


/I 


See  page  72  of  Statement. 


Ri  . 


158 

off  the  partners,  have  been  already  submitted  to  the 
reader;*  and,  on  that  part  of  the  subject,  there  is  no- 
thing asserted  in  the  **  Narrative^*  which  calls  for  the 
slightest  alteration  in  the  Statement.  The  documents, 
indeed,  which  have  been  since  received,  and  some  of 
which  are  subjoined  to  the  Appendix,  only  tend  ful- 
ly to  corroborate  and  confirm  what  was  so  narrated. 

In  order  to  verify  the  account  given  in  their  *^  Nar- 
rative" of  the  proceedings  at  Fort  William,  the  Re- 
presentatives of  the  North- West  Company  produce, 
in  their  Appendix,  the  depositions  (No.  21  and  22) 
of  M'Robb  and  Cowie,  two  of  their  clerks,  and  also 
the  statement  (No.  20,)  of  Lieutenants  Brumby  and 
Misani,  which  was  already  alluded  to.  In  refutation 
of  the  inferences,  intended  to  be  drawn  from  these 
materials,  the  reader's  attention  is  particularly  re- 
quested to  the  three  documents  now  added  to  the 
Appendix,  namely,  the  account  giveA  of  these  pro- 
ceedings by  Mr.  Fauche,  (late  lieutenant'in  the  same 
regiment  with  Messrs.  Brumby  and  Misani,)  and  who 
is  now  in  England ;  the  narrative  drawn  up  and  sign- 
ed by  Mr.  M^Nabb,  who  was  employed  as  the  prin- 
cipal constable,  in  executing  the  warrants  at  Fort 
William ;  and  the  deposition  of  Alexander  Fraser, 
recently  taken  at  Montreal.t 

"  Military  possession,"  says  the  Narrative,  (page 
69,)  ^*  was  then  taken  of  the  Fort,  as  is  particularly 
described  in  the  deposition  of  Lieutenants  Brumby 


*  See  page  61,  &c.  of  Statement. 

t  See  Appendix,  [K.  K.]  fL.  L.]  and  [M.  M.] 


-■■tarii  nil— <p»i«|i'T.'« 


itled  to  the 
there  is  no- 
lalU  for  the 
documents, 
md  some  of 
ily  tend  ful- 
[>  narrated, 
iheir  "  Nar- 
am*  the  Re- 
ay  produce, 
21  and  22) 
ks,  and  also 
Brumby  and 
[n  refutation 
from  these 
licularly  re- 
Jded  to  the 
'  these  pro- 
t  in  the  same 
nit)  and  who 
up  and  sign- 
as  the  prin- 
nts  at  Fort 
tder  Fraser, 

•ative,  (page 
particularly 
nts  Brumby 


159 

and  Misani,  given  in  the  Appendix,  No.  20 ;"  and, 
upon  this  passage,  the  Representatives  of  the  Com- 
pany have  subjoined  the  following  note,  with  respect 
to  which,  it  is  requisite  that  the  reader  should  be 
undeceived : — 

*'  Lieutenants  Brumby  and  Misani,  whose  depoaition  is 
above  referred  to,  are  officers  of  the  late  Regiment  De 
Meuron,  who  obtained  leave  of  absence  from  General  Sir 
Gordon  Drummond,  at  the  request  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, in  order  to  enable  them  to  visit  the  Indian  Country. 
This  was  partly  intended  to  counteract  the  impression 
which  might  be  made  on  the  Indians  by  seeing  Lord  Sel- 
kirk's body  gutird,  and  military  force  ;  but  chiefly  in  order 
to  enable  these  gentlemen  to  see  the  real  state  of  the  coun- 
try, and  to  give  an  impartial  report  of  such  occurrences  as 
they  might  witness.  Their  testimony,  therefore,  relative 
to  the  military  outrages  committed  at  Fort  William,  is  en- 
titled to  particular  attention,  as  coming  from  military  men, 
totally  unconnected  with  either  of  the  parties." 

Little  did  these  two  unwary  Ofllicers  suspect,  that 
when  Sir  Gordon  Drummond  gave  them  leave  of  ab- 
sence fromiheir  regiment,  at  the  request  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  **  in  order,'*  as  their  Representatives 
say,  **  to  enable  them  to  see  the  real  state  of  the  coun- 
try, and  to  give  an  impartial  report  of  such  occur- 
rences as  they  might  witness,"  little  did  they  suspect 
that  the  Company  were  merely  making  convenient 
tools  of  them,  to  serve  their  own  secret  and  unwar- 
rantable purposes. 

"  You  will  not  hesitate,"  says  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod  in 
his  letter  directing  his  partner  at  the  Fond  du  Lac,  to  col- 
lect the  Indians,  for  the  purpose  of  immediately  proceeding 


^% 


■::i^:, 


itio 


.against  tbc  Rod  Rivor  Settlement  ;*  '*  You  will  not  hesi- 
tate tu  explain  to  the  Indians  the  purpose  for  which  we 
want  them  to  meet  us :  possibly,  and  most  probably,  their 
appearance  may  suflice,  but,  in  any  case,  they  shall  be  well 
and  fully  recompensed  for  their  trouble.  You,  who  know 
the  Indian  character  so  well,  make  use  of  that  experience, 
to  collect  as  many  as  you  can  in  a  short  time,  from  fifteen 
to  twenty,  upwards,  to  one  hundred.  You  will  explain  to 
the  Chief,  that  we  have  King's  OlRcers,  and  a  few  soldiers 
along  with  us,  so  that  there  is  not  the  least  doubt  of  the  jus- 
tice  of  our  cause." 


These  King^s  Officers  were  Lieutenants  Brumby 
and  Misani :  and  how  far  *'  the  few  soldiers  alpng 
with  us^*  were  employed  to  promote  the  "  Justice  of 
our  cause,"  the  reader  will  be  better  enabled  to 
judge,  if  he  peruses  the  following  account  of  an  atro- 
cious murder  committed  by  one  of  them,  under  the 
express  directions  of  a  partner  of  the  North-West 
Company,  in  the  course  of  this  thoir  expedition  into 
the  interior. 

Charles  De  Reinhard,  a  sergeant  in  the  De  Meuron 
Regiment,  having  received  his  discharge  from  Sir 
Gordon  Drummond,  was  recommended  by  Lieute- 
nant Misani,  the  commanding  officer  of  his  company, 
to  Mr.  W.  M^Gillivray  and  Mr.  Norman  M*Leo(l, 
as  a  clerk  for  the  North- West  Company^s  service. 
In  that  capacity  he,  together  with  another  sergeant 
of  the  name  of  Heurtre,  (who  had  also  obtained  his 
discharge,)  accompanied  Lieutenants  firumby  and 
Misani,  with  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod,  from  Montreal 


*  s 


?ce  page  100  of  Statement. 


161 


will  not  hc»i- 
for  which  we 
probably,  their 
>y  ttliall  be  well 
ou,  who  know 
lat  experience, 
ic,  from  fifteen 
will  explain  to 
d  a  few  soldiers 
[oubtofthejug- 


nants  Brumby 
soldiers  alpng 
he  **  Justice  of 
ter  enabled  to 
>unt  of  an  atro- 
lienif  under  the 
le  North-West 
expedition  into 

tlie  De  Meuron 
barge  from  Sir 
led  by  Lieute- 
of  his  company, 
ivman  M*Leod, 
ipany's  service, 
mother  sergeant 
Iso  obtained  his 
8  Brumby  and 
from  Montreal 


ii. 


into  the  Interior.  When  they  arrived  at  Lac  la  Pluie» 
in  their  way  to  the  Red  River,  Lieutenant  Misani 
told  Reinhard  that  Mr.  M^Lood  wished  Heurtre  and 
him  to  put  on  their  regimentals  (which  they  had  been 
requested  to  bring  with  them  from  Montreal)  in 
order  to  appear  at  a  council  of  Indians,  where  Lieu- 
tenants Brumby  and  Misani  were  introduced  as 
captains,  and  Sergeants  Reinhard  and  Heurtre  as  per- 
sons in  the  King's  service.  In  the  speech  made  to 
the  Indians  at  this  council,  Mr.  M^Lcod  directed 
the  interpreter  to  say  that  government  had  sent  theso 
officers  for  the  sake  of  Justice.*  The  party  after- 
wards proceeded,  with  some  of  these  Lac  la  Pluie 
Indians,  to  the  Red  River,  where  they  met  the  colo- 
nists a  few  days  after  those  transactions  at  the  settle- 
ment had  occurred,  which  have  been  already  nar- 
rated. 

Having  remained  a  very  short  time  at  the  Red 
River,  Lieutenants  Misani  and  Brumby,  with  Mr. 
Hughes,  one  of  the  Company's  partners,  returned  to 
Fort  William,  to  report  to  Mr.  W.  M'Giliivray  the 
occurrences  which  had  taken  place.  Reinhard,  how- 
ever, was  sent  as  one  of  the  North- West  Company's 
clerks,  to  Bas  de  la  Riviere  ;Winipic,  a  station 
belonging  to  the  Company,  where  he  was  directed 
by  Mr.  Archibald  M^Lellan,  the  partner  who  had 
charge  of  it,  to  put  the  fort,  or  trading  post,  at  that 
place,  into  a  state  of  defence. 

About  the  beginning  of  August,  there  arrived,  at 


*  See,  also,  the  deposition  of  Sayer  the  Interpreter,  Appen- 
dix, [E.  E.]  page  Ixv. 

Y 


J 


162 


that  post,  some  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, who  had  deserted  from  Mr.  Owen  KeVeney, 
a  gentleman  in  that  Company's  service,  then  on  his 
way  from  Albany  Factory  in  Hudson's  Bay,  to  the 
Red  River  Settlement.  These  deserters  complained 
to  Mr.  Norman  M^Leod,  that  Mr.  Keveney  had 
treated  them  very  ill,  upon  which  the  ready  magis- 
trate, under  the  Canada  Jurisdiction  Act,  immediately 
issued  his  warrant,  and  appointed  Sei^eant  Reinhard 
to  act  as  constable  for  the  purpose  of  apprehending 
Mr.  Keveney.  Reinhard  accordingly  proceeded  with 
six  Bois-Bru)^,  whom  Mr.  M^Lellan  had  directed  to 
accompany  him,  and  having  seized  Mr.  Keveney, 
they  brought  him  to  Bas  de  la  Riviere.  From  that 
place  he  was  sent  off  in  a  canoe,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  taken  to  Fort  William,  under  the  charge  of 
these  Bois  Brul6s,  by  whom,  during  the  route,  he 
was  bound  and  handcuffed. 

On  their  way  towards  Fort  William,  they  were  met 
by  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell,  the  North-West  Com- 
pany's partner,  who  took  away  the  Bois  Brules,  and 
put  in  their  place  two  Canadl .:  '  named  Faye  and  La 
Pointe,  together  with  an  Indian,  who  was  to  serve  as 
a  guide  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  the  prisoner  to 
Lac  la  Pluie.  Some  days  afterwards,  however,  they 
met  Messrs.  Stuart  and  Thompson,  also  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  who  ordered  them  to  return.  They 
accordingly  did  bo,  but  could  not  keep  pace  with 
Mr.  Stuart's  canoe.  The  ^vo  Canadians  soon  after 
quarrelled  with  the  Indian,  and  ihey  separated.  The 
Canadians,  not  knowing  their  way,  landed  Mr.  Ke- 
veney upon  a  sraall  island,  where  they  left  him. 


163 

A  considerable  period  having  subsequently  elapsed 
without  any  account  being  received  at  Bas  de  la 
Riviere  (by  Mr.  M'Lellan,  the  partner  at  that  sta- 
tion,) of  Mr.  Keveney,  and  those  who  were  with  him, 
it  was  concluded  that  the  Indian  had  murdered  him, 
or  that  the  two  Canadians  had  lost  their  way,  or  that 
they  were  all  drowned.  At  length  Mr.  M^Lelian, 
Cuthbert  Grant,  Cadot,  Reinhard,  and  some  Bois- 
Brules,  set  oflf  in  a  canoe  with  the  intentioi  of  going 
to  Lac  la  Pluie,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  intelli- 
gence relative  to  the  apprehension  of  the  partners  at 
Fort  William,  (of  which  they  had  then  received  in- 
formation!) and  also  to  discover  what  had  become  of 
Mr.  Keveney. 

After  travelling  about  four  days  they  found  the 
Indian,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  two  Tlanadians, 
Faye  and  La  Pointe.  These  three  persons  Mr. 
M'Lellan  took  with  him,  and  agnin  set  out  in  search 
of  Keveney.  They  found  him  in  an  encampment  of 
Indians,  and  he  was  a  seconJ  time  apprehended. 
Mr.  M'Lellan  having  procured  from  these  Indians  a 
small  canoe,  he  directed  Sergeant  Reinhard  to  embark 
in  it  with  the  prisoner,  the  Indian,  and  a  Bois-Brule, 
named  Mainville.  M^Lellan  then  said  to  Reinhard, 
"  make  the  prisoner  believe  that  he  is  going  to  Lac 
la  Pluie.  He  must  not  be  put  to  death  here  among 
the  Indians.  We  will  go  on  further,  and  wait  for 
you  ;  and  when  you  find  a  favourable  spot,  you  know 
what  you  have  to  do."  (^Voiis  savez  ce  que  vous  avez 
h  fairej) 

Mr.  M'Lelian  having^  thus  issued  his  secret  orders 


/I 


t^; 


164 


r  ' 


to  Reinhard,  set  out  in  his  own  canoe,  leaving  on  shore 
Mr.  Kevcnej,  Reinhard,  the  Indian,  and  Mainville 
the  Bois-Brul6.  In  less  than  an  hour  they  embarked 
to  follow  him.  Having  proceeded  about  a  quarter 
of  a  league,  Mr.  Keveney  expressed  a  wish  to  be  set 
on  shore  for  a  short  time;  and  on  his  being  landed, 
Reinhard  said  to  Mainville,  that,  as  they  were  now 
far  enough  from  the  Indians,  he  might  shoot  the 
prisoner.  Upon  Mr.  Keveney's  returning  to  the 
beach  to  re-embark,  and  being  close  to  the  canoe, 
Mainville  levelled  his  piece,  and  shot  him  through 
the  neck.  Keveney  fell  forward  upon  the  canoe, 
when  Reinhard  seeing  he  was  not  dead,  and  that  he 
wanted  to  speak,  drew  his  sword,  and  plunging  it 
twice  into  his  back,  run  him  through  tlie  body,  and 
put  an  end  to  his  misery.  ^ 

Having  stripped  the  body,  they  left  it  in  the  adjoin- 
ing woods,  and  proceeded  in  their  canoe  to  join  their 
master,  Mr.  M'Lellan,  who,  seeing  them  approach, 
sent  Cuthbert  Grant  and  Cadot  to  inquire  if  Mr.  Ke- 
veney was  killed.  Reinhard  answered,  that  he  was. 
Upon  this  they  directed  him  to  say  that  he  was  not 
killed.  Reinhard  again  told  them  that  he  was  kill- 
ed, and  that  he  would  not  conceal  it,  as  it  was  done 
by  his  (Mr.  M'Lellan's)  orders. 

He  then  joined  M'Lellan  and  the  rest  of  the  party, 
and  detailed  to  them  what  had  happened.  A  distri- 
bution of  the  bloody  clothes  of  Keveney,  and  of  his 
other  eflccts,  was  then  made,  and  M'Lellan  having 
opened  the  boxes  and  writing-desk  of  the  unfortunate 
man  whom  he  had  thus  ordered  to  be  murdered,  he 


^ 


165 

spent  a  great  part  of  the  night,  in  reading  and  burn- 
ing the  letters  and  papers  which  they  contained. 
Next  morning  he  continued  his  examination  of  the 
remaining  papers  in  his  canoe,  sinking  them  after  he 
had  perused  them :  and,  upon  finishing  this  employ- 
ment, he  told  the  Bois-Brules  that  it  was  very  fortu- 
nate they  had  prevented  Keveney  from  getting  to 
Fort  William,  where  he  might  have  i  jined  them  all. 
Such  are  the  proceedings  which  are  carried  on  in 
the  interior  of  British  North  America,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  supporting  the  "  justice  of  our  cause ;"  and 
such  the  Constituents  abroad  who  furnish  to  their 
Representatives  in  England,  the  raw  materials  for 
the  subsequent  fabrication  of  their  Memorials  to  his 
Majesty's  Government,  and  their  "  faithful  Narra- 
tives" to  the  Public ! 


The  circumstances  of  this  infamous  story  were 
only  vaguely  reported  at  Fort  William  some  weeks 
after  Lord  Selkirk  arrived  at  that  place ;  but  he 
knew  enough  of  the  wintering  partners  of  the  i'^'o.  th- 
West  Company,  to  be  satisfied  that  the  murder, 
which  was  thus  rumoured,  had  been  actually  com- 
mitted, and  at  the  instigation  of  at  lea^t  one  of  the 
Company's  partners.  He,  therefore,  requested 
Captain  D'Orsonnens  (one  of  the  gentlemen  who  had 
accompanied  him  from  Montreal  in  his  intended 
journey  to  the  Red  River)  to  obtain  every  informa- 
tion he  could  procure  at  Lac  la  Pluie;  inconse- 
quence of  which,  the  two  Canadians,  Fays  and  La 
Pointe,  who  were  with  Mr.  M'Lellan  at  the  time, 
have  given  their  depositions  upon  oath  as  to  the 


166 

transaction ;  and  Reiohard  himself  has  made  a  full 
confession  and  declaration  of  the  murder.  These 
three  documents  are  subjoined  in  the  Appendix."*' 


'V 


Among  the  materials  inserted  in  the  "  Narrative 
of  Occurrences,^'  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  odium 
upon  the  proceedings  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  at  Fort 
William,  appears,  in  a  most  conspicuous  position,  the 
"  Journal  of  Mr.  Jasper  Vanderslujs."  Mr.  Van- 
dersluys  is  a  Dutch  Book-keeper  of  the  North- West 
Company ;  and,  if  his  Books  are  kept  with  no  greater 
accuracy  than  his  "  Journal,"  the  Company  may 
have  again  to  present  a  humble  memorial  to  his 
Majesty's  Secretary  of  State,  lamenting  that  their 
trade  is  still  conducted  ''  to  their  serious  inconveni- 
ence and  disadvantage."  As,  however,  their  Repre- 
sentatives, in  Introducing  Mr.  Vandersluys  to  the 
reader,  bespeak  his  favour  by  assuring  him,  that  he 
is  "  a  very  respectable  person  ;"  and  as  they  de- 
scribe his  Journal  Itself  as  '^  a  simple  and  correct 
detail  of  the  most  extraordinary  outrage  which  was 
ever  committed  against  the  Laws  of  a  civilized 
Country,"  it  may  be  advisable  to  look  a  little  into 
the  contents  of  this  Dutchman's  diary — a  composi- 
tion which  has  been  deemed  too  important  to  be 
thrown  into  the  Appendix  of  their  Narrative,  but  is 
permitted  to  occupy  upwards  of  thirty  pages  of  small 
print  In  the  body  of  the  Work  itself. 


.,*f 


See  Appendix,  [G.  G.]  [H.  IJ.]  [I.  I.] 


i67 


The  Journal  comprises  about  the  period  of  a  fort- 
night, from  the  12th  to  the  28th  of  August,  during 
which  time,  Mr.  Vanderslujs  appears,  by  his  own 
statement,  to  have  been  wofully  harassed  and  tor- 
mented by  the  Earl  of  Selkirk.     He  had  been  left 
in  charge  (as  the  Narrative  states)  of  the  Company's 
affairs,  when  the  partners  who  had  been  apprehended 
were  sent  off  from  Fort  William ;  and  great  pains 
are  taken,  throughout  the  Journal,  to  make  it  be  cre- 
dited that,  in  the  performance  of  his  important  duties, 
he  met,  from  Lord  Selkirk,  and  the  gentlemen  who 
accompanied  him,  with  every  degree  of  violence  and 
obstruction.     Notwithstanding  his  hurry  and  fatigue, 
however,  it  would  appear,   (frr»m   the  Journal  at 
least,)  that  be  had  leisure  enough  to  sit  down  coolly 
ami  deliberately  every  day,  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
posing his  long  story  ;  carefully  noting  down,  at  full 
length,  the  events  in  their  regular  and  daily  course, 
and  minuting  in  his  diary  all  occurrences  in  due  order 
and  arrangement.     The  object  of  this  is  very  evi- 
dent.    Those  who  represent  the  North-West  Com- 
pany lay  before  their  readers  this  Journal  as  an  ac- 
curate statement,  made  at  the  moment  when  the 
events  described  in  it  are  said  to  have  occurred,  and 
as  being  narrated  by  a  person  who  was  actually  on 
the  spot,  and  an  eye-witness  of  what  took  place.     It 
is,   therefore,  expected   by  them,  that   the  public 
should  look  upon  it  as  a  document  of  incontrovertible 
authenticity.     To   make   it   be   believed    that   this 
"  simple  and  correct  detail,"  as  they  term  it,  was 
actually  written  at  the  time,  such  passages  as  the  fol- 
lowingare  scatteteil,  with  no  sparing  hand,  through- 


■^: 


■■^.-^■fc,^ 


M 


168 


i.lJ- 


ii 


■if  f) 


out  the  Journal  of  Mr.  Jasper  Vanderslujs  :  "  Be- 
tween  ten  and  eleven  this  morning,  the  Earl  of  Sel- 
kirk," &c.  "  This  morning  past  very  quietly,"  &c. 
« This  morning  Mr.  M*Gillivray,"  &c.  «  This 
morning  the  captain  of  the  guard,"  &c.  "  We  this 
afternoon  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Earl," 
kc.  "  At  about  ten  oVlock  last  night  his  Lordship," 
&c.  <'  Nothing  further  remarkable  occurred  this 
day,"  &c.  "  This  day  has  been  a  very  busy  one," 
&c.  "  The  EarPs  plans  cannot  now  be  a  secret 
any  longer,"  &c.  "  At  length  the  Earl's  projects 
and  views,  so  long  disguised,  begin  to  discover  them- 
selves," kc.  "  I  have  just  this  moment  returned," 
Sic,  "  While  writing  this.,  I  receive  information," 
&c.  (&c.  &:c.  This  is  all  very  well,  and  the  purpose 
obvious.  But  why  did  this  "  simple"  journalist 
permit  siu  h  a  passage  as  the  following  to  creep  into 
his  diary  ?  On  the  17th  of  August,  "  they  seized," 
says  tFie  journal,  "  soine  papers  of  no  value,  and 
sealed  them  ;  but  I  must  not  omit  to  mention,  that 
this  bundle  contains  a  Deposition  of  one  JSolin,  clerk 
to  the  IJucUan''s  Bay  Company,  written  and  signed  by 
himself,  in  which,  amongst  other  things,  he  declares,  that 
at  tlie  late  action  at  Red  River,  the  colonists,  headed  by 
Mr.  Semple,  were  the  aggressors  and  first  assailants  ;" 
Hov^f  car-*  this  "  deposition  of  one  JVoAV  to  be  so 
anx.v.usly  adverted  'o  ?  Did  Mr.  Jasper  Vander- 
sIp-  -  su>pect  that  ihcre  was  danger  of  evidence  being 
collected,  which  might,  probably,  throw  light  upon 
the  occurrences  at  Red  Kiver  ?  Did  he  begin  to  con- 
jecture, with  the  principal  Agent  of  the  Company, 


luys  :  "  Be- 
Earl  ofSel- 
quietly,"  &c. 
cc.  "  This 
"  We  this 
lo  the  Earl," 
s  Lordship,^' 
:curred  this 
IT  busy  one," 
be  a  secret 
rl'a  projects 
icover  them- 
it  returned," 
nformation," 
the  purpose 
i"  journalist 
lo  creep  into 
hey  seized," 

value,  and 
iiention,  that 

JVolin,  clerk 
md  signed  by 
declares^  that 
its,  headed  by 

assailants  :" 
in"  to  be  so 
)er  Vander- 
idence  being 
V  light  upon 
jegin  to  con- 
e  Company, 


169 

that  "  the  story  might  be  reported  in  a  thousand 
ways ;  that  Mr.  Norman  M ^Leod,  and  Mr.  A.  and 
Mr.  B.  of  the  North-West  Company,  with  Brul6s," 
&c.  &c.  had  destroyed  the  colony  ?  and  did  he  hope 
that  this  part  of  his  journal  might  tend  to  arrest  the 
story  in  its  progress  ?**  Do  the  Representatives  of  the 
Company  also  entertain  a  similar  expectation  by  the 
question  which  they  put,  in  the  Postscript  to  their 
Narrative,  on  the  same  subject?  "  What  has  become 
of  the  deposition  of  JVolin,  mentioned  in  Mr.  Vandet' 
sluys''s  journal?  And  why  has  it  been  suppressed,  and 
the  present  one,"  (namely,  that  taken  before  Lord 
Selkirk,  and  which  appears  in  Appendix,  [X.])  "sub- 
stituted  in  its  place?"  The  answer  to  which  is,  that 
as  none  else  was  received,  (than  that  sworn  to  before 
Lord  Selkirk,)  there  neither  could  be  substitution, 
nor  suppression.     It  is  very  obvious,  indeed,  that 
the  marked  allusion,  in  the  Journal,  to  the  '^  deposi- 
tion of  one  JYolin,''^  and  the  question  arising  upon  it 
in  the  Postscript  to  the  Narrative,  are  intended  to 
weaken  or  counteract  the  effect  of  Nolin's  affidavit 
taken  by  Lord  Selkirk.  But  the  reader  will  observe, 
that  this  latter  deposition  was  not  taken  fill  the  21st 
of  August,  four  days  after  the  date  of    hit  part  of 
Vandersluys's  Journal,  which  has  been  so  evidently 
contrived  tor  the  purpose  of  counteracting  it ;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  Mr.  Vandersluys,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  August,  attempts  to  obviate  the  effect  of  an  affida- 
vit which  was  not  taken  till  the  twenty  first  of  the 


*  See  Statement,  page  110. 


'.  J 


1  ft  I 


■c  .      J  ^  , 


ito 


M'l 


'^ 


same  month  !  If  Nolin  made  any  other  deposition, 
(of  which  no  proof  is  adduced  except  Vandersluyt's 
Journal,)  it  must  nave  been  sent  off,  among  the  other 
documents  w!iich  were  transmitted  from  Fort  Wil- 
liam, without  examination,  (after  having  been  sealed 
up  by  a  person  in  behalf  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk, 
and  another  in  behalf  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny,) and  subsequently  delivered  to  the  Attorney  Ge- 
neral of  Lower  Canada,  into  whose  custody  they 
were  deposited  in  that  state,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
made  such  use  of  as  his  ofllicial  duty  might  point  out.* 
Throughout  every  part,  indeed,  of  the  composition 
of  this  Journal,  are  to  be  found  marks  of  fraud,  iln 
grasping  at  too  much,  it  has  obtained  nothing.  If 
the  separate  and  daily  portions  of  it  be  inspected 
with  any  degree  of  attention,  they  will  appear  evi- 
dently to  have  been  fabricated  long  subsequent  to 
the  periods  in  which  t'^ey  are  respectively  dated ;  h\ 
short,  it  is  obvious  that  Mr.  Vandersluys's  log  book 
was  not  begun  till  after  his  voyage  was  completed. 
Can  it  be  believed,  for  instance,  that  when  Mr. 
M'Gillivray,  the  principal  agent  of  the  iNorth-West 
Company  in  Canada,  and  seven  of  his  partners,  wish- 
ed to  prepare  a  formal  Protest  against  Lord  Selkirk's 
proceedings  at  Fort  William,  they  should  have  re- 
sorted to  their  foreign   book-keeper,  Mr.  Vander- 


* 


*  By  Nolin's  deposition,  in  Appendix  [X,J  it  is  evident  that 
he  could  not,  from  personal  observation,  know  who  were  the 
first  assailants  in  the  afl'air  of  the  19th  of  June,  as  he  was  iioi 
within  almost  a  league  of  the  spot,  and  had  even  sent  a  person 
to  ascertain  and  report  to  hitn  what  was  going  on. 


ijr.x-**i-  w»^— 


171 

sluys,  (who,  it  is  well  known  in  Canada,  scarcely  un- 
derstands  the  English  language,)  to  draw  it  up  for 
them !  **  This  morning  Mr.  M^Gillivray  desired  me  to 
draw  up  a  protest  against  the  acts  of  violence  com- 
mitted yesterday.  I  had  only  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
to  do  it  in,  and  worded  it  briefly  in  the  following 
terms."  This  manifesto  is  accordingly  produced,  to 
which  the  eight  partners  then  at  Fort  William,  have 
affixed  their  names.  Of  the  assertions  contained  in 
it,  one  deserves  to  be  noticed.  Those  men  who  had 
belonged  to  the  De  Meuron  Regiment,  about  twen- 
ty-(ive  in  number,  whose  assistance  was  called  in  by 
the  constable,  to  enforce  the  arrest  of  the  partners 
at  Fort  William,  who  had  resisted  the  warrants,^  are 
termed,  ^  between  fifty  and  sixty  disbanded  and 
intoxicated  soldiers."  This  assertion  is  repeated 
throughout  various  parts  of  the  Journal.  *^  The 
Fort  was  now  left  in  disorder,  and  at  the  discretion 
of  the  intoxicated  soldiery  .f  And  again,  "Captain 
D'Orsonnens,  the  leader  of  these  disbanded,  intoxi- 


*  See  page  66  of  Statement. 

t  Neither  of  the  two  clerks  of  the  North-West  Company 
who  have  made  the  affidavits  numbered  (in  the  Appendix  to  the 
Narrative,)  21  and  22,  and  'vhose  statements  are  produced  as 
evidence  of  the  outrages  at  Fort  WilHam,  have  said,  that  a  sin- 
gle man  of  the  party,  that  went  to  that  place,  was  in  the  slight- 
est degree  intoxicated.  Nor  do  Lieutenants  Brumby  :ind  Mi- 
sani,  mention  one  word  of  it ;  and  their  testimony  ♦'  relative 
to  the  military  outrages  committed  at  Fort  William,  is  entitled 
to  particular  attention,  as  coming  from  military  men  totally  un- 
connected with  either  party."     See  "  Narrative,"  pngc  69. 


.ji.yMi 


^iSid^t 


172 

cated,  and  almost  uncontrolled  soldicrst  cried  outf 
^aux  annes^aux  armes^''  and  immediatciy  he  bugle  waa 
sounded,  and  an  armed  force  of  about  sixty  in  num- 
ber, with  loaded  muskets,  and  fixed  bajoni'ts,  rush- 
ed  forcibly  into  the  Fort,  shoutmg,  cursing,  and 
swearing,  and  threatening  death  and  destruction  to 
all  persons  and  all  property.  The  suldiery  were 
strongly  countenanced  in  this  by  their  otilicers, 
amongst  whom  the  most  conspicuous  was  the  afore- 
said Captain  D'Orsonnens,  next  Captain  IVlathey, 
Lieutenant  Fauche,  Lieutenant  Grafleureith,  and  se- 
veral more." 

With  respect  to  tliese  alleged  acts  of  daily  vio- 
lence, the  best  contradiction  to  Mr.  V  andersluys,  is 
Mr.  Vandersluys  himself;  for  there  is  nothing  which 
he  asserts,  however  bold,  in  one  part  of  his  diary, 
but  what  is  overmatched  by  his  own  counter-asser- 
tions in  another.  Who  could  suppose  that,  after  all 
these  horrible  alarms  which  pervade  his  Journal,  of 
*^  soldiers  who  appear  to  be  thirsting  for  an  opportu- 
nity to  gratify  their  wishes  for  tumult  and  bloodshed'' 
and  of  *^  acts  which  would  make  a  French  Douanicr 
blush,  and  all  this  authorized,  instigated,  and  ordered 
by  a  man  vested  with  the  dignity  of  a  magistrate," 
that,  notwitshtanding  this,  we  should  find  Mr.  Van- 
dersluys, on  the  28th  of  August,  the  day  when  he 
left  Fort  William  for  Montreal,  stating  that,  *^  I  told 
him,  (Lord  Selkirk,)  that  no  agreement  or  conven- 
tion could  be  made  whilst  he  laid  down  as  a  prin- 
ciple the  retention  of  a  pledge,  or  indemnifica' 
(ion ;  but  that,  as  1  was  aware  he  was  in  distress 


;:«?*' 


173 

for  many  articles,  I  was  willing  to  consult  with 
M*Tavish  on  the  subject,  and  perhaps  let  him  have 
a  certain  quantity  of  goods  by  way  of  obliging  him," 
&c.  So,  after  all,  it  turns  out  that  Lord  Selkirk,  in 
full  command  at  Fort  William,  **  backed  by  a  ftjro- 
cious  band  of  lawless  soldiery,  with  arms  and  artille- 
ry"—and,  *^  committing  acts  which  vv  make  a 
French  Douanier  blush,"  civilly  asks  t  k  keep- 

er of  the  North- West  Company  to  ace  him 

with  those  articles  in  the  Fort,  for  v^  n  hich 
Mr.  Vandersluys  admits  that  he  knew  his  Lordship 
was  in  distress !  And  yet  this  "  very  respectable  per- 
son" does  not  hesitate  to  assert,  *^  I  cannot  help  re- 
marking here,  that  at  the  time  of  the  French  invasion 
of  my  own  country,"  (Holland,)  "  I  witnessed  much 
injustice,  and  a  defiance  of  law  and  morality,  with 
all  the  evils  accruing  to  a  country  over-run  by  a  de- 
bauched and  ferocious  militaiy  horde,  yet  I  saw  no 
injustice  so  glaring  as  what  was  committed  by  the^ 
Earl  of  Selkirk  and  his  agents  here!" 

But  the  day  on  which  the  feelings  of  Mr.  Vander- 
sluys appear  to  have  been  wound  up  to  (he  highest 
pitch,  was  the  IBth  of  August,  when  his  diary  as- 
sumes more  the  stamp  of  the  German  than  of  the 
Dutch  school.  When  Mr  M'Gillivray,  and  his  part- 
ners, in  consequence  of  the  warrants  of  commitment, 
were  that  day  embarking  in  their  canoes,  to  pro- 
ceed from  Fort  William,  and  when  their  Canadian 
voyageurs,  Iroquois  canocmen,  and  Bois-Brules,  were 

collected  by  curiosity   on  the  beach "  All  our 

brave    and  faithful  men,"   says  Mr.    Vandersluys, 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


174 

"  who  were  spectators  of  their  departure,  were  silent 
as  the  grave !  oot  from  awe  of  Lord  Selkirk's  over- 
whelming power,  or  his  military  precautions  and 
martial  law,  but  from  the  natural  feelings  of  their 
hearts;  from  the  unaltered  respect  thej  bore  for 
their  masters,  and  from  the  remembrance  of  their 
kindness.  Some  cf  these  faithful  men  were  not 
able  to  conceal  their  tears,  and  I  saw,  what,  perhaps, 
few  have  ever  seen,  I  saw  an  Indian  wHp  P*  ^  The 
name  of  this  Indian  is  not  recorded ;  probably  one  of 
the  Grandes  Oreilles  family :  **  Traders,  my  children, 
when  I  first  heard  of  the  troubles  you  were  in  at  this 
place,  my  heart  became  sorry,  and  the  tears  r^n 
down  my  cheeks  !^'  But  the  reader  has,  without 
doubt,  by  this  time,  seen  enough  of  the  **  Journal  of 
Mr.  Jasper  Vandersluys,*'  a  sort  of  spurious  off- 
spring, which  the  partners  of-^the  North-West 
Company  seem  more  inclined  to  lay  at  the  door 
of  their  foreign  book-keeper,  than  to  father .  them- 
selves. 


On  the  subject  of  the  reduced  soldiers  of  the  De 
Meuron  and  Watteville  regiments,  who  accompanied 
Lord  Selkirk,  with  the  intention  of  settling  upon  his 
lands  at  the  Red  River,  instead  of  taking  the  allot- 
ments to  which  they  were  entitled  in  Canada,  the 
Representatives  of  the  North-West  Compalby  have 
not  sciiipled  to  suffer  the  following  passage  to  be 
published  in  their  Narrative  of  Occurrences : 

"That  he"  (Lord  Selkirk)  "might  have  means  suffi- 
cient for  his  purpose,  in  addition  to  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty"  (about  one  hundred  and  thirty)  "  canoemen, 


175 

he  engaged  about  one  hundred  and  fifty"  (about  an  hun- 
dredf  viz.  eighty  of  the  De  Meuron,  and  twenty  of  the 
Watteville  Regiments,  which  had  been  reduced)  *'  foreign 
soldiers,  with  two  captains  and  two  subalterns  of  the  Regi- 
ment de  Meuron,  a  set  of  men  whose  conduct  afterwards 
sufficiently  justified  the  apprehensions  entertained  of  thein. 
They  had  been  engaged  in  different  services  in  Europe  and 
Asia,  and  were  partly  formed  by  deserters  from  Buona- 
parte's armies  in  Spain.  From  that  country  they  were 
sent  %o  'America,  where  the  regiment  was  just  disbanded, 
and  were  fit  instruments  for  the  scenes  of  pillage  and  plun- 
der in  which  l^ey  were  subsequently  engaged."* 

The  best  answer  to  such  malevolent  and  slander- 
ous aspersions  will  be  found  in  the  following  Garri- 
son Orders,  which  the  Reader  will  rejoice  to  have 
laid  before  him. 


"  Garrison  dRDER.  Malta,  4lh  May,  1813. 

"  Lieutenant-General  Oakes  cannot  suffer  the  Regiment 
De  Meuron  to  quit  this  Garrison,  where  they  have  so 
long  been  stationed  under  his  command,  without  assuring 
them  of  the  satisfaction  which  their  good  conduct,  and 
attention'to  military  discipline,  have  constantly  afforded 

*  "  Narrative,"  page  62.  See  also  the  Statement  of  Lieu- 
tenant Faucbe,  (Appendix,  [K.  K.]  by  which  it  appears,  "  that 
in  1809,  when  the  Regiment  De  Meuron  was  at  Gibralter,  His 
Majesty*A  Government  authorized  that  all  the  Germans  and 
Piedmontese,  whom  the  conscription  had  forced  to  enter  Buo- 
naparte's armies,  from  which  they  escaped  as  soon  as  an  oppor- 
tunity offered,  should  be  enlisted  in  His  Majesty's  service  ;  in 
consequence  of  which  many  came  over  and  received  the  regu- 
lar bounty."  This  is  termed  by  the  Representatives  of  the 
North-West  Company,  desertion  I 


i 


T'r'-' 


176 

him  ;  and  which  have  been  equally  conspicuous  in  every 
rank.  They  will  embark  from  hence,  as  fine  and  well- 
appointed  a  regiment,  as  any  in  his  Majesty's  service. 

"  The  Lieutenant-General  has  no  doubt  but  by  their  con- 
duct  and  gallantry,  on  the  desirable  service  on  which  they 
are  about  to  be  employed,  they  will  confirm  the  high  opi. 
nion  he  has  formed  of  them,  and  will  equally  merit  the 
praise  and  approbation  of  the  General  under  whose  orders 
they  will  soon  be  placed,  to  whom  he  shall  not  fail  justly 
to  set  forth  iheir  merits. 

"  He  begs  leave  to  assure  this  regiment  of  his  warmest 
wishes  for  their  glory  and  success,  and  of  tlje  sincere  inte- 
rest  he  shall  ever  take  in  their  welfare. 

(Signed)  P.  ANDERSON,  D.  A.  G." 

The  Regiment  Dc  Meuron  embarked  at  Malta  for 
North  America,  and  after  the  peace,  it,  and  the 
Watteville  Corps,  were  reduced  last  year  in  Canada, 
upon  which  occasion  Sir  John  Sherbrooke,  the  Go- 
vernor-in-Chief,  issued  the  following  Garrison  Order, 
which,  as  well  as  that  of  Sir  Hildebrapd  Oakcs, 
above  cited,  would  do  honour  to  any  corps  in  his 
Majesty's  service. 


i. 


"  Garrison  Order.  'cbec,  26th  July,  1Q16. 

"  In  parting  with  the  Regiments  De  Meuron  and  Watte- 
ville, both  of  which  corps  his  Excellency  had  the  good  for- 
tune of  having  had  under  his  command  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  Sir  John  Sherbrooke  desires  Lieutenant-Colonei 
De  Meuron,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  May,  and  the  officers 
and  men  of  those  corps,  will  accept  his  congratulations,  on 
having,  by  their  excellent  conduct  in  the  Canadas,  main- 
tained the  reputation  which  they  have  deservedly  acquired 
by  their  former  services. 


177 

«  His  Excellency  can  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that 
bis  Majesty^a  service  in  these  provinces  has  derived  im- 
portant advantages  during  the  late  war,  from  the  steadi- 
ness, discipline,  and  efficiency  of  these  corps. 

(Signed)  J.  HARVEY,  Lt.  Col. 

Deputy  Adjutant-General." 


Such  are  the  marks  of  approbation  officially  re- 
corded by  General  officers  who  had  the  best  means 
of  appreciating  the  merit  of  regiments  which  had 
been  long  and  honourably  employed  in  his  Majesty's 
service ;  and  which  the  Agents  of  the  Canadian  Fur 
Traders  now  wish  to  hold  up  to  the  public  as  ''^fit 
instruments  for  scenes  ofpiUage  and  plunder  /" 

These  scenes  of  **  pillage  and  plunder,'^  are,  per- 
haps, what  Vaiidersluy's  Journal  particularly  adverts 
to,  (on  the  1 4th  of  August,  the  day  after  the  part- 
ners were  apprehended,)  when  it  states,  that  **  Lord 
Selkirk  and  his  party  were  very  busy  about  the  Fort, 
and  carried  off  about  eighty  guns  belonging  to  the 
North-West  Company."  And,  in  the  same  item  of 
his  diary,  he  adds,  that  a  new  warrant  had  been  is- 
sued **  to  seize  all  arms,  under  the  frivolous  pretext 
that  information  had  been  given  that  a  quantity  of 
papers  had  been  burnt  the  night  before,  and  a  num- 
ber of  arms  concealed/'  The  pretext,  however, 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  quite  so  frivolous  as 
the  Journalist  wishes  it  to  be  believed.  The  reader 
may  recollect,  that  after  Lord  Selkirk  had  arrested 
the  partners,  on  the  IJth  uf  August,  he  permitted 
thrm  to  go  back  to  their  apartments  in  Fort  Wil- 
liam, having  pledged  to  him  their  word  of  honour, 

A  a 


.4-\ 


I        f 


r 


178 


11' 

m 

W 

W 

that  no  further  attempt  should  be  made  to  obstruct 
the  execution  of  the  law,  and  that  all  measures 
of  resistance  or  hostility  should  cease.  It  was  also 
stated,  that  information  was  brought  to  him  early 
next  morning  (the  J 4th)  that  the  seals  had  been 
broken  from  several  of  the  places  which  had  been 
sealed  the  evening  before ;  that  many  papers  had 
been  burnt  in  the  course  of  the  night ;  that  several 
barrels  of  gunpowder  had  been  rolled  out  of  the 
Fort ;  and  that  about  fifty  or  sixty  stand  of  fire-arms, 
to  all  appearance  fresh  loaded  and  primed,  had  been 
found  secreted  near  the  building.*  The  circum- 
stances, thus  mentioned  in  the  Statement,  have  been 
since  corroborated  by  documenti,  some  of  which 
are  now  added  to  the  Appendix:  The  reader  is  par- 
ticularly requested  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  ac- 
count given  by  Mr.  Fauche,  who  was  at  Fort  William 
at  the  time ;  and  also  to  the  narrative  of  M^Nabb, 
and  the  deposition  of  Alexander  Fraser,  both  of 
whom  were  likewise  upon  the  spot.  From  these 
documents,  it  will  probably  be  suspected,  and  upon 
no  slight  grounds,  that  instead  of  the  **  frivolous  pre- 
text," stated  in  Vandersluy's  Journal,  as  having  been 
assigned  for  seizing  the  arms  belonging  to  the  North- 
West  Company,  an  attempt  was  actually  projected, 
at  that  place,  to  massacre  Lord  Selkirk  and  the 
whole  of  his  party.f 
The  following  passage  of  the  **  Narrative,"  being 


Mb- 


*  See  Statement,  page  67. 

t  See  Appendix,  [K.  K.]  [L.  L.]  [M.  M-l     L\ 


Lirk  aiid  the 


179 

connected  with  the  proceedings  of  Lord  Selkirk  at 
Fort  William,  deserves  to  be  noticed  :-— 

"  This  simple  and  correct  detail"  (meaning  Yander- 
•luys's  Journal)  "  of  the  most  extraordinary  outrage  which 
was  ever  committed  against  the  laws  of  a  civilized  country, 
by  a  person  of  the  rank  of  Lord  Selkirk,  will,  in  itself, 
create  sufficient  astonishment ;  but  it  is  impossible  not  to 
4dvert  to  other  circumstances  connected  with  it,  which 
Still  more  aggravate  the  enormity  of  the  transaction. 

"  The  persons  arrested,  after  being  treated  with  studied 
indignity  and  insult,  were  embarked  as  prisoners,  under  a 
guard  of  foreign  soldiers,  in  their  own  canoes,  manned  with 
their  own  servants,  but  not  prepared  in  the  usual  manner 
for  the  accommodation  of  passengers  :  others,  tit  for  their 
conveyance,  had  been  got  ready  by  their  clerks,  in  which 
they  were  not  allowed  to  embark ;  and  those  selected, 
were  so  overloaded,  as  to  place  the  passengers  in  imminent 
danger  of  their  lives.  There  were  above  fifty  canoes  ia 
the  fort,  from  which  a  sufficient  number  might  easily  have 
been  appropriated  for  the  safe  conveyance  of  the  prisoners, 
had  Lord  Selkirk  considered  their  safety  of  the  most  triding 
importance.  One  canoe,  in  which  three  prisoners,  Ken- 
neth Mackenzie,  Allan  IVIacdoiiell,  and  John  M'Laughlin, 
were  embarked,  was  considerably  under  the  usual  size,  and 
could  not  carry  with  safety  more  than  fifteen  persons,  with 
their  baggage  and  provisions  ;  yet  entirely  disregarding  the 
representations  and  remonstrances  made  of  the  danger  to 
be  apprehended,  his  Lordship  ordered  twenty-one  persons 
to  be  embarked  in  it,  and,  as  had  been  predicted,  in  the 
passage  on  the  lake  the  canoe  tilled,  and  upset,  in  conse- 
quence of  bting  so  overloaded  ;  Mr.  Mackenzie,  and  eight 
other  persons,  were  dt-owned,  and  the  survivors  narrowly 
escaped  with  their  lives."* 

*  See  "  Narrative,"  page  102. 


i 

v. 


■*:  ' 


y 


r:^. 


180 


(  I 


To  the  charge  thus  brought  against  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk,  (a  charge  which  insinuates  no  less  t^n  a 
wish,  on  his  part,  to  sink  the  whole  brigade  of  canoes, 
-—friends  and  foes— constables  aud  prisoners !)  they 
have  added  a  note,  which  is  not  unworthy  of  the 
passage  in  the  text  to  which  it  is  subjoined.  **  How 
far  ihf  Earl  of  Selkirk,'*  say  they,  **  is  legally  re- 
sponsible for  death  thus  happening  in  the  prosecution 
of  an  unwarrantable  act,  and  while  an  innocent  man 
was  under  conveyance,  by  his  orders,  in  a  state  of 
unlawful  imprisonment,  may  perhaps  be  doubtful ; 
but  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  a  heavy  moral  responi 
sibility  attaches  to  his  Lordship  in  this  trUnsaction  !** 
The  Representatives  of  the  Company,  ha^ng  com^ 
posed  their  Fable^  they  could  not  do  less  than  follow 
the  good  old  custom,  and  add  the  Moral;  but  the 
reader  will  probably  wish  to  know  the  facts  of  the 
case,  and  to  hear  what  some  of  those  survivors,  who 
narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives  when  the  accident 
happened,  have  said  on  the  subject. 


h  ' 


"  I,  J.  Baptiste  Chevalier  de  Lorimicr,  captain  of  the 
Indian  Department,  certify,  that  on  the  26th  of  August, 
1816,  having  arrived  at  Isle  au  Parisien,  Mr.  M'GilHvray 
made  the  brigade  of  three  canoes  set  out  during  a  great 
storm,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  the  rest  of  the  party,  and 
of  the  two  guides.  When  we  got  about  half  way  across 
the  passage,  Mr.  M'GilHvray  still  persisting  to  make  for  the 
Cape.  I  took  it  upon  myself  to  steer  for  Isle  aux  Erables. 
The  two  other  canoes  then  followed  me,  in  order  to  gain 
the  bay,  but,  boftire  we  corild  reach  the  shore,  our's  unfor- 
tunately sunk,  when  several  were  drowned. 


181 

"  I  further  certify,  that  upon  our  getting  ashore,  and  Mr. 
M'Gillivray  having  come  to  condole  with  us,  I  reproached 
him  with  being  the  sole  cause  of  what  had  happened.  All 
the  other  gentlemen  of  the  party,  as  also  the  canoe-men, 
then  came  and  shook  hands  with  me,  declaring  that  I  was 
the  means  of  having  saved  the  rest  of  the  brigade,  and  that, 
if  I  had  not  persisted  in  making  for  the  land,  we  must  all 
have  perished."* 

Mr.  Fauche,  late  of  the  De  Meuron  Regiment, 
whom  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  had  requested  to  take 
charge  of,  and  accompany  the  prisoners  to  York  in 
Upper  Canada,  has  also  detailed  the  circumstances 
which  occufred  with  regard  to  this  unfortunate  ac- 
cident. JHe  also,  it  would  appear,  has  been  accused 
of  **ehtirely  disregarding  the  representations  and 


') 


t 


*  Moi,  J.  Baptiatc  Chevalier  de  Loriinicr,  Capt.  Ind.  Department,  certifie  qae 
le  26 d*AoQt,  MI6,  £tant  arrivC  I  rfsle  an  Parisien,  Mr.  M*GilIivr6  fit  partir,  dani 
nne  g^nde  tempite,  la  brigade  de  troi*  canAts,  malgrfi  moi  et  malgrfi  les  autrea 
mefiieun  qui  itoient  de  cette  brigade,  et  malgrfi  les  deux  guides,  pour  entrepren- 
dre  une  traverse  d'une  ttendtie  considerable.  Je  certifie  de  plus,  qu'£t»nt  X 
peu  prCi  au  milieu  de  cetto  raalheureuse  traverse,  Mr.  M'GillivrS  s'obstinant  i  se 
rqadreauCap,  je  prissur  moi  de  gagncr  Piste  aui  Erablcs,  qui  se  trourc  dans  lo 
b«ye ;  aussitAt  les  deux  autres  canSts  se  mirent  fc  me  suivre  pour  gagner  aussi  la 
baye;  mais  malheureusemcnt  le  can8t  oil  nous  (tions  engloutit  avant  d'arriver  k 
ttrte.  Plusieurs  d'entre  nous  se  sont  sauvSs,  les  autres  ont  malheureusement 
pfiri. 

Je  certifie  encore  que,  lorsque  nous  avons  6ti  rendus  i  terre,  M.  MK^illivrC 
Ctant  venu  nous  plaindre,  je  lui  reprochai  que  cet  accident  n*6toit  arrivfi  que  par 
sa  faute,  Alors  tous  les  messieurs  de  la  brigade,  ainsi  que  tous  les  engngSs,  vin- 
rent  me  donner  la  main,  disant  hautement  que  j'Stois  la  cause  que  le  reste  de  la 
brigade  s'6toit  ku\6,  et  que  si  je  n'eusse  pas  persists  ft  gagner  terre,  nous  aurions 
toui  pCri. 

J.  Btk  ch>.  de  LORIMIER. 

Capt.  Ind.  Dfipart. 


*, 


•.W«(^'? 


IIM«« 


''■!-'i  >  '3 


I    ; 


! 


!.  * 


*■  f 


r  1 


182 

remonstrances  made  of  the  clanger  to  be  apprehend- 
ed,*' k.Q.  in  sli^rt,  of  being  totally  indifferent  to  the 
safety  of  a  party  of  which  he  himnelf  formed  one ! 
Mr.  Pauche  had  the  charge  at  Fort  William,  of 
getting  the  canoes  prepared  for  their  voyage*  The 
three  thai  were  chosen  for  that  purpose,  were  from 
among  those  in  which  the  partners  of  the  North* 
West  Company  usually  travelled.  The  crews  wore 
regular  Indian  canoemen  in  the  Company's  service. 
It  is  to  be  believed  that  Mr.  Fauche,  Captain  De 
Lorimier,  the  two  skilful  Indian  guides  who  were 
with  them,  and  the  experienced  old  Indian  chief, 
who  was  to  have  accompanied  Lord  Selkirk  to  the 
Red  River,  (and  who  was  one  of  those  who  we^e 
drowned,)  or  indeed  that  any  of  the  party  would 
have  embarked  on  such  a  voyage,  in  canoes,  unsafe, 
ill-equipped,  or  ^^  overloaded  T*  Prior  to  the  unfor- 
tunate accident  the  party  were  upwards  of  a  week 
in  their  voyage  upon  Lake  iSuperior,  but  no  appre- 
hensions whatever  were  entertained  as  to  the  **  safe 
conveyance"  of  the  canoes ;  and,  after  the  loss  of 
the  canoe  which  upset,  several  of  the  persons  who 
escaped,  were  next  day  distributed  in  the  two  re- 
maining ones,  which  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  would 
have  been  done,  had  these  canoes  been  already  over- 
loaded. There  was  no  necessity  for  such  a  distri- 
bution, as  there  were  Indians  with  canoes  on  the 
island  where  the  party  took  shelter,  and  by  whom 
some  of  them  were  forwarded  to  the  Sault  St.  Mary. 
It  may  also  be  observed,  that  in  the  canoe  that  was 
lost,  there  were  three  of  the  discharged  soldiers  of 


Till 


185 

Ibe  De  Meuron  Regiment,  who  were  to  return  to  the 
Earl  of  Solkirk.  Two  of  these,  a  sergeant  and  a 
private,  were  anfortiinately  drowned. 

Mr.  Fauche  has  also  declared,  that  although  he 
had  the  charge,  or  command  of  the  canoes,  he  al- 
ffays  consulted  Mr.  MKjIillivray  as  to  the  arrange- 
ments of  setting  out,  &c.  &c.  This  he  was  induced 
to  do,  from  the  great  experience  which  that  gentle- 
man possessed  in  the  navigation  of  the  Lakes,  and 
l|e  (Mr.  Fauche)  positively  states,  that  the  day  the 
accident  occurred,  he  particularly  asked  Mr.  M*Gil- 
livray  if  he  thought  it  safe  to  proceed,  from  the  Isleau 
Parisien,  and  that  Mr.  M'Giilivray  advised  him  to 
Bet  out.*  Such  is  the  **  tnormity  of  the  transaction^ 
which  has  been  charged  against  the  Earl  of  Selkirk 
by  the  Representatives  of  the  North-West  Company, 
who,  although  they  gravely  express  a  doubt  as  to  his 
Lordship  being  legally  indictable  for  the  murder  of 
the  unfortunate  men  who  were  drowned,  yet  appear 
to  entertain  none  at  all,  as  to  his  moral  guilt  and 
ity! 


In  concluding  the  Observationu  which  have  been 
•ubmitted  to  the  Reader  with  respect  to  the  "  Nar- 
rative of  Occurrences,''  &c.  it  may  be  remaHced 
how  closely  the  advocates  for  the  North-West  Com- 
pany follow  the  footsteps  of  their  Canadian  corres- 


'h,. 


4 


)*^: 


i  ~, 


.\l' 


*  See  Appendix,  [K.  K.] 


-«Sflrf7v57^= 


/ 


'       f 


11 


;  i 


if 

i 

§) 

|. 

\ 

1S4 

pondenlf  on  the  subject  of  the  unfortunate  (kte  of 
Governor  Semple  and  his  associates.*  The  Indians 
must  still  be  held  up  to  the  public  as  the  principal,  if 
not  the  sole  actors  in  that  horrible  scene.  In  every 
page,  in  almost  every  sentence,  of  that  part  of  their 
Narrative,  these  Indians  are  conspicuously  placed 
before  the  reader,  for  the  purpose  of  persuading  him 
that  the  result,  so  deeply  to  be  lamented,  arose  from 
Indian  hostility.  **  About  fil\y  Indians  and  Half- 
breeds**  we  find  despatched  with  an  escort  of  provi- 
sions by  way  of  **  an  experiment  /" — **  The  Indians 
and  Half  breeds  supposing  themselves  undiscover- 
ed.**— **  The  fact  of  the  Indians  having  actually  pass- 
ed that  establishment.** — '*  The  facts,  not  even  de- 
nied by  the  opposite  party,  that  they  marched  out  and 
followed  the  Indians.** — **  The  Indians  and  Half- 
breeds  wore  all  on  horseback.** — **  The  Indians  rush- 
ing in,  Mr.  Semple,  and  about  twenty  of  his  people, 
lost  their  lives.** — **  The  Indians  and  Half-breeds 
fortunately  did  not  carry  their  resentment  beyond 
the  persons  actually  engaged  in  the  affray.** — '-^  Af- 
ter this  melancholy  affair,  the  colonists  complied 
willingly  with  the  terms  prescribed  by  the  Indians,** 
&c.  iScc.  Who  were  those  Indians  ?  To  what  tribes 
did  they  belong?  Were  they  Crees,  Sautoux, 
Scioux,  Assinaboins,  or  their  own  Iroquois  from 
Montreal?  All  the  persons  who  were  actively 
engaged  on  the  19th  of  June,  under  Cuthbert  Grant 
(the  Company's  Clerk)  must  be  known,  because  they 


*  See  Statement,  page  104. 


\ 

ft.    V 


185 


were  lubsoquently  remunerated  for  their  services ; 
some  at  Red  Riverf  and  some  afterwards  at  Fort 
William.  But  how  does  it  happen  that  their  own 
servant,  Firmin  Bouchert  mentions  nothing  about 
Indiani  being  present  ?  Boucher  is  a  Canadian,  in 
the  regular  service  of  the  North-West  Company, 
and  who,  tbej  now  admit,  **  happened  to  be  with 
(A«m,**  although  tbej  pubiicij  circulated,  and  offi- 
cially communicated  to  his  Majesty's  Government, 
the  positive  assertion,  that  not  one  of  their  people 
had  been  within  an  hundred  miles  of  the  spot  !* 
The  evidence  of  Boucher  can  scarcely  be  disputed 
by  the  Company;  because,  ** These  particulars," 
they  say,  (meaning  the  affair  of  the  19th  of  June,) 
**  are  taken  from  the  testimony  of  Boucher — who 
was  carried  down  to  Montreal,  and  other  persons 
present  in  the  affray.  It  has  not  been  deemed  ad- 
visable, pending  the  legal  proceedings  which  the 
case  must  give  rise  to,  to  publish  the  evidence  of 
parties  who  may  be  implicatcd."t  That  is  to  say, 
the  Representatives  of  the  North-West  Company 
will  state  to  the  public  what  particulars  they  choose, 
and  publish  what  they  think  fit :  they  will  not  scru- 
ple to  tell  their  own  story  from  Boucher's  testimony, 
or  from  any  other  testimony ;  but  they  beg  leave  to 
decline  producing  his,  or  any  other  evidence,  upon 
which  that  story  is  stated  to  be  grounded.  With 
regard  to  the  testimony  of  Boucher,  the  advocates 


=4 


I 


n[ 


I'J 


1:1 


f 


*  See  Statement,  page  108. 
t  See  note  in  page  53  of  "  Narrative." 

B  B 


'Afi*L;i:vi 


w 


M,l-    I 


186 

for  the  Company  must  have  either  supposed  it  tb  be 
true,  or  false.  If  false,  the  story  they  have  founded^ 
upon  it  cannot  be  true ;  and  if  his  evidence  be  tme, 
^vfiy  do  they  not  adhere  to  it  ?  Boucher  menlSons 
Only  BoiS'BruUs  as  being  actively  engaged  on  the 
19tli  of  June,  stating  the  party,  in  ail,  to  be  about 
sixty-four ;  but  the  Narrative  rates  them  at  a  much: 
lower  number,  and  takes  much  pains  to  impress  upon 
the  mind  of  the  Reader  that  the  party  was  compo- 
sed chiefly,  if  not  solely,  of  Indiata.  In  order  to 
enable  the  Reader  to  judge  6f  this  boasted  testimoUy 
of  Boucher,  his  Declaration  (certainly  not  a  very 
distinct  document)  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix.*      , 

It  does  not  appear  necessary  to  make  any  further 
Observations  upon  this  **  Faithful  Narrative  of  Oc- 
currences.** If  the  Documents  which  have  been  now 
submitted  to  the  Reader,  have  excited  his  attention, 
he  will  have  little  hesitation  in  pronouncing  (hat 
the  Agents  or  Representatives  of  the  North-West 
Company  of  Montreal  have  n6t  only  failed  in  their 
attempt  to  wipe  olTthe  stain  which  attached  to  thei^ 
Constituents,  but  have  fixed  it  more  indelibly  by  the 
materials  brought  forward  to  defend  them,  and  by 
the  admissions  apparent  in  that  defence.  "  Thci 
attempt  at  Colonization,**  say  they,  towards  thd 
conclusion  of  their  Narrative,  **  was,  in  its  origin, 
objectionable  in  every  respect  to  the  Fur  Traders, 


See  Appendix,  [N.  N.] 


I 


and  thej  do  pot  deny,  that  (except  in  the  protection 
and  assistance  thej  considered  it  their  duty  to  afford 
to  their  suffering  countrymen)  after  having  ascer- 
tained the  r  jal  object  which  the  plans  of  Lord  Sel- 
kirk ^er«  intended  to  cover,  they  have  done  all  in 
their  power  .to  render  these  schemes  abortive." 
They  have  done  all  in  their  power  to  render  thftse 
schemes  abortive ;  to  frustrate  that  plan  of  coloniza- 
tion in  British  North  America  which  they  avow  to 
•have  been,  from  the  first,  so  objectionable  to  them. 
£y  what  means  the  J  have  hitherto  rendered  that  plan 
abortive,  it  wi|l  be  the  province  of  his  Majesty's  go- 
vernment, incontrov^rtibly,  and  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt,  to  ascertain. 

When  Sir  Gordon  Orummond,.in  the  year  181.% 
informed  the  principal  Agent  of  the  North- West 
Company,  that  he  had  received  a  communication 
from  high  authority,  desiring  him  to  inquire  what 
foundation  tl  ere  was  for  the  alarm  entertained  by 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  and  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, for  the  safety  of  their  settlers,  he  distinctly 
stated,  that  if  the  apprehended  destruction  of  the 
colonists  by  the  neighbouring  Indians  took  place,  it 
could  not  fail  to  be  ascribed  to  the  North-West 
Company.  **The  North-West  Company  will  be 
considered  responsible  in  the  eye  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  in  those  of  his  Majesty's  Government,  for 
any  such  horrid  catastrophe  as  I  have  alluded  to, 
whether  arising  from  the  instigations  of  their 
subordinate  agents,  or  from  the  influenced  malignity 


m 


■;  !J 


t 


r 


V 


188 


'.  if, 


of  the  Indians  themselves."*  The  Indians,  however, 
arc  fully  and  honourablj  acquitted  of  every  charge, 
cither  of  actual  aggression,  or  of  hostile  views, 
against  the  Settlement ;  and,  in  the  eye  of  the  world, 
the  North-West  Company,  and  they  alone,  will  be 
considered  responsible  for  tlie  catastrophe,  unless 
they  produce  far  more  satisfactory  proofs  of  their 
innocence  than  those  documents  which  they  have  re- 
cently submitted  to  the  Public.  Nor  can  the  hack- 
neyed plea  of  character  do  away  a  positive  charge  of 
facts :  "  They  refer,  without  fear  of  disappointment," 
say  they,  ^^  to  the  various  governors  who  have  been 
appointed,  since  the  conquest  of  Canada,  to  that  pro- 
vince, for  an  account  of  their  conduct  as  loyal  and 
useful  members  of  its  community."  But  who,  of  the 
Governors  of  Canada,  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
witnessing  the  conduct  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny's partners,  agents,  and  servants,  in  the  interior — 
thousands  of  miles  from  the  seat  of  the  Provincial 
Governments  ?  Or,  who  was  likely  to  inform  them 
of  the  lawless  proceedings  in  those  remote  countries  ? 
Many  of  the  Company's  partners,  and  others  con- 
nected with  that  association,  must  themselves  have 
been  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  system  which  prevails 
towards  the  north  and  west  of  Lake  Superior ;  and 
is  it  to  be  supposed  that  those  of  the  partnership 
who  were  well  acquainted  with  that  system,  and  who 


*  See  the  letter  from  the  Deputy  Adjutant-General  to  Mr. 
M'Gillivray,  of  Uth  June,  1815,  page  57  of  Statement. 


189 

participated  in  its  vices,  would  furnish  the  Provincial 
Government  with  the  information  ?  On  the  contrarj, 
it  is  evident  that  every  mode  has  been  adopted  to 
withhold  the  knowledge  of  what  was  going  on  in  that 
quarter;  and  if  the  Governors  of  Canada  have  enter- 
tained a  better  opinion  of  the  North  West  Company 
than  they  deserved,  it  can  in  justi(  e  be  only  ascribed 
to  the  artful  and  powerful  means  adopted  b^  the 
Company  to  conceal  the  truth  with  respect  to  their 
proceedings  in  the  interior,  and  particularly  on  tiie 
subject  qf  that  conspiracy  which  was  enteted  into 
against  tj^e  Red  River  Settlement. 

It  is  not  unworthy  of  remark,  however,  that  the 
very  same  persons  who  declare  the  attempt  at  cojo- 
nization  on  the  Red  River  to  have  been  in  every 
respect  objectionable  to  them,  appear  by  no  means 
averse  to  take  merit  to  themselves  for  establishing 
colonics  elsewhere.  When  set  on  foot  by  Canadian 
Fur  Traders,  Colonization  is  honourable  and  praise- 
worthy— but,  when  planned  and  conducted  by  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk,  it  is  mean  and  criminal !  The 
North  West  Company,  we  are  told,  "  have  with  a 
spirit  of  liberality  and  expense,  in  many  instances 
unrequited  by  the  result  of  their  undertakings,  ex- 
plored the  who^  Continent  of  North  America,  and 
ascertained  the  geographical  situation  of  almost 
every  river  and  district  o(  those  immense  regions. 
They  have  recently  established  a  considerable  and 
thriving  colony  on  the  banks  of  the  Columbia,  on  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  in  direct  communication  with  their 
Settlements  in  Canada,  and  are  now  extending  their 


■..jsLj 


If 


190 

inland  trade  southward  to  the  Spanish  settlements  of 
Californiaf  and  northward  to  those  of  the  RussiaDs 
at  New  Archangel."  It  would,  perhaps,  puzzle  even 
tlteir  own  Geographer  to  name  the  degree  of  latitude 
and  longitude  where  this  '*  considerable  and  thriving 
colony"  is  to  bo  found — to  specify  from  whom  the 
lands  were  granted  upon  which  it  is  established — 
or  to  state  from  whence  the  settlers  have  dropped 
who  compose  it.  But  if  the  North- West  Company 
have  really  established  such  a  Settlement  in  any 
part  of  British  North  America,  it  would  surely  have 
been  not  inconsistent  with  their  boasted  humanity,  to 
have  oiTered  to  the  dispersed  settlers  from  the  Red 
River  an  asylum  in  this  their  new  and  flourishing 
colony,  and  ensured  to  them  that  "  protection  and 
assistance  they  considered  it  their  duty  to  atford  to 
their  suffering  countrymen,'*  instead  of  driving  them 
away  with  insult  and  barbarity  to  a  desolate  and  in- 
hospitable region. 

Whether  or  not  that  prophetic  declaration  which 
they  utter  in  their  Narrative  will  be  verified,  remains 
to  be  ascertained.  *'Thus,'*  say  they,  **was  this 
devoted  colony,  for  the  last  time,  dispersed  :  and,  al- 
though its  dissolution  was  sooner  or  later  inevitable, 
from  different  causes  to  that  which  now  determined 
its  fate,  it  could  not  have  been  expected  that  it  would 
be  precipitated  by  so  much  rashness.'^*  What  those 
other  causes  of  its  inevitable  dissolution  misht  have 


See  Narrative,  page  55. 


\.„ 


■';'Hr'*"*y»*f.*  "^ 


^"■r'l^^wywfiip— *ft*^ 


tlementsof 
le  Russians 
)uzzle  even 
of  latitude 
nd  thriving 
whom  the 
ablished — 
e  dropped 
t  Company 
ant  in  any 
mrely  have 
umanity,  to 
m  the  Red 
flourishing 
ection  and 
o  atford  to 
iving  them 
ate  and  in- 


ion  which 
d,  remains 
^^was  this 
J :  and,  al- 
inevitable, 
etermined 
it  it  would 
^ hat  those 
light  have 


been,  it  is  now  immaterial  to  inquire,  as  they  were 
not  allowed  to  operate.  Had  the  Colony  (as  was 
observed  in  the  Statement)  been  at  all  likely  to 
fail  from  local  circumstances,  or  causes  inherent  in 
its  nature,  the  North- West  Company  would  never 
have  set  on  foot  expensive  and  hazardous  measures 
to  destroy  if :  and  the  very  last  persons  who  ought 
to  be  listened  to  on  the  subject  of  the  improbability 
of  its  ultimate  success,  are  they  who  not  only  confess 
that,  from  the  first,  the  Settlement  was,  in  every  re- 
spect, objectionable  to  them,  but  who  have  so  sub- 
stantiallly  proved  their  hostility  by  reiterated  endea- 
vours to  effect  its  destruttion.  '.'^ 

To  consider  what  measures  should  be  adopted, 
A>r  the  purpose  of  extending  the  protection  of  the 
law  to  those  British  subjects  whom  the  circum- 
stances of  the  mother  country  are  compelling  to 
emigrate  to  various  parts  of  our  North  American 
possessions,  is  surely  an  object  worthy  of  the  earnest 
attention  of  the  Legislature.  For,  however  unim- 
portant, in  a  public  view,  may  be  the  jarring  claims 
or  disputes  of  rival  commercial  establishments,  there 
has  arisen  from  the  transactions  at  Red  River  an 
object  of  far  superior  and  unquestionable  import- 
ance— the  necessity  of  putting  a  speedy  and  effectual 
stop  to  those  acts  of  violence  and  outrage,  of  rob- 
bery and  murder,  which,  if  persisted  in,  cannot  fail 
to  bring  a  stigma  upon  the  British  character,  and 
are  a  disgrace  to  any  part,  howsoever  remote,  of  the 


('i 


A 


192 

British  Empire.  In  so  important  a  subject  of  con- 
sideratioHf  the  first  step  ought  to  be,  a  careful  revi- 
sal  of  the  **  Canada  Jurisdiction  act."  If,  as 
asserted  in  the  "Narrative,"  that  legislative  mea- 
sure was  introduced  at  the  suggestion,  and  passed  at 
the  earnest  entreaty,  of  those  who  were  employed  as 
Agents  for  the  North-West  Company,*  that  circum- 
stance alone,  at  the  present  period,  and  after  the 
occurrences  which  have  taken  place  at  the  Red 
River,  ought  to  be  considered  no  slight  ground  for 
a  revisal  of  the  Statute.  Many  of  those  disgraceful 
occurrences  took  place  under  the  eye  of  one  of  the 
Company's  principal  Agents  and  Partners,  acting  at 
the  moment  as  a  Magistrate  for  the  Indian  Territory 
under  the  sanction  of  that  Law.  But  in  place  of 
assisting  British  subjects  who  stood  in  so  much  need 
of  his  protection,  he  only  added  insult  and  injustice 
to  the  miseries  they  had  already  experienced.  He 
appears  to  have  been  too  expert  an  Agent,  not  to 
look  upon  the  Canada  Jurisdiction  act  as  merely 
an  instrument  to  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Company  who  employed  him.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
obtaining  the  correct  information  it  was  his  duty  to 
procure,  and  taking  proper  measures  to  bring  the 
guilty  to  justice,  he  only  used  his  authority  to  impri- 
son and  put  in  irons  several  of  the  settlers  who 
had  escaped  from  the  massacre,  and  remunerated 
the  Company's  clerks,  servants,  and  hirelings,  who 


*  See  Preface  to  Narrative,  page  vii.  and  Appendix  to  Nar- 
rative, No.  24,  page  60. 


1*3 


had  been  actually  emplojed  id  driving  off  the  colo- 
nists, and  shedding  the  blood  of  their  fellow  sub- 
jects. These  circumstances,  alone,  appear  to  form 
•  sufficient  reason  that  the  Legislatura  should  revise 
the  statute  alluded  to,  that  ill-judged  statute,  under 
the  sanction  of  which,  wintering  and  acting  partners 
of  the  Canadian  Fur  Traders,  with  their  roving  Com- 
missions of  the  Peace,  their  warrants,  subpoenas,  and 
hand-cuffs,  tyrannize,  without  restraint,  in  the  inte- 
rior of  North-America,  over  every  one  who  offends 
them ;  detain  their  victims  for  years  under  their  con- 
trol ;  or,  when  more  convenient,  put  them  to  death, 
as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Keveney.  If  an  inquiry  into 
those  subjects  were  to  be  instituted  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  Parliament,  it  could  not  fail  to  prove  of  great 
national  importance.  But,  in  the  investigation,  the 
Legislature  must  expect  to  meet  with  no  slight  de- 
gree of  obstruction.  Those  who  have  reigned  for 
so  long  a  period  in  the  distant  regions  of  the  interior 
of  British  North-America,  uncontrolled  by  any  legal 
restraints,  whose  dominion  has  proved  a  scourge  to 
the  Indians,  and  a  terror  to  their  own  immediate  Ca- 
nadian dependants,  are  not  likely  to  permit  the  truth 
to  be  exposed  to  the  British  nation,  through  its  re- 
presentatives in  Parliament,  without  making  every 
possible  exertion  to  prevent  it.  The  anticipation  of 
these  difficulties,  however,  instead  of  preventing,  or 
delaying  the  investigation,  ought  to  expedite  inqui- 
ry, and  render  it  the  more  rigid  when  once  under- 
taken; and  the  result  will  too  clearly  show,  that 
after  the  experience  of  nearly  fourteen  years,  the 


c  c 


I 


«4 


ii.-*9i«A*tA'jj!aj|||:qk»'.A.M4^'  i 


•-wjWPW**"-^ 


194 

Canada  Juriscliction  Act  has  in  no  wise  promoted  the 
yiews  of  the  Legislature ;  and  that,  in  place  of  for- 
warding the  ends  of  justice  bj  the  punishment  of 
offenders,  and  the  prevention  of  crimes,  it  has,  in  its 
fatal  operation,  only  furnished  the  means  to  sanction 
injustice,  and  to  legalize  oppression. 


i 


_.'! 


APPENDIX. 


CONTENTS. 


A.  OriNioifS  of  Counsel  relative  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com' 
pany's  Charter, i 


Fag» 


B.  Transaction  relative  to  a  Seizure  of  Provisons  by  Mr. 
Miles  Macdonell 


u 


4p.  Letters  fmm  D.  Cameron  to  the  Settlers  at  Red  River, 
<^  D.  Deposition  of  Mibhael  M'Donell, 

E.  Deposition  of  John  Cooper,        .... 

F.  Deposition  of  Robert  Sutherland, 

0.  Deposition  of  Angus  M'Kay,        .        .        .        . 
H.  Deposition  of  Neil  M'Kinaon,        .... 

1.  Deposition  of  Michael  Kilbride,        .        . 

K.  Deposition  of  John  Bourke,        .... 

L.  Deposition  of  Hector  M'Eachem, 

M.  Deposition  of  Hector  M'Leod,        *        .        . 

N.  Deposition  of  George  Sutherland, 

O.  Deposition  of  Patrick  M'Nolty,        .... 

P.  Deposition  of  Alexander  M'Lean, 

Q,  Deposition  of  Joseph  Kenny,        .... 

R.  Deposition  of  Donald  M'Kinnon, 

S.   Deposition  of  Michael  M'Donell, 

T.  Deposition  of  James  Flynn 


Ill 
vii 

viii 

X 

•  • 

m 
xiv 

XV 

xvi 

xvii 

xix 

xxi 

xxiii 

xxiv 

XXV 

xxvi 
xxvii 

xxix 


These  relate  chiefly  to  the  meaaures  taken  for  the  destruction  of  the  Red  Rirer 
Settlement  in  the  years  I8I4  and  I81d.  See  Statement,  page  10,  et  seq.  A  gene- 
ral reference  is  made  to  them  in  page  29. 


Jii^^'gi'^aMWir'tj'ufi'f" 


^i»im^^^^ 


^■'-mif^    -»«S^Mii|BSJiT  <*!•;. 


l\9  I 

•r  i 


..,^i*4, 


CONTENTS. 


U.  Declaration  of  an  Indian  Chief  before  the  Conn- 

cil  of  the  Indian  Department,  Upper  Canada,  xu 
V.  Deposition  of  P.  C.  Pambrun,        .        .        .      xnii 

W.  Deposition  of  A.  Lavigpe xxxvi 

X.  Deposition  of  Louia  Nolin xxxix 

Y.  Deposition  of  Louis  Blondeau,        •        •        .      xliii 
Z.  Deposition  of  Joseph  Brisbois,  .  xlv 

A.  A.  Deposition  of  C.  O.  Bruce,  .        .  xlvii 

B.  B.  Deposition  of  John  Bourke,        .        .  xlix 

C.  C.  Deposition  of  Michael  Hedcn,        .        .        .      W 

ThcM  principally  reUte  to  Dm  destruction  of  the  colony  in  1816,  ud  tlw,  (par- 
ticularly the  two  lut,)  to  the  mawacra  of  Mr.  Serople  and  bit  party.  See  State- 
ment,  pa|e  88,  et  leq. 


D.  D.  Letter  from  Mr.  S  M'Gillirray  to  the  Right  Ho- 

nourable Earl  Bathurst,  &c.  &c.  &c.        .  bu 

E.  E.  Deposition  of  John  Charles  Sayer,        .         .  Ixr 

F.  F.  Depositionof  George  Campbell,        .        .        .  Ixvi 


R 

It  4t 


l 


G.  G.  Declaration  and  Confession  of  Charles  de  Rein- 
hard Ixx 

H.  H.  Deposition  of  Baptiste  La  Pointe,        .  Ixxvii 

1.  I.    Deposition  of  Hubert  Faye,        .        .         .  Ixxx 

Theae  relate  chiefly  to  the  murder  of  Mr.  Keveney.    See  ObiervatioiM  tabjois- 
•d  to  Statement,  page  ICO. 

K.  K.  Account  of  the  Transactions  at  Fort  William,  by 
Mr.  Fauche,  late  Lieutenant  of  the  Regiment 

De  Meuron, Ixxxiv 

JL.  L.  Narrative  of  Mr.  John  M*Nabb,        .        .        .    xcii 
U.  M.  Deposition  of  Alexander  Fraser,        .  .    xcv 

Theie  relate  principally  to  the  proceeding*  at  Fort  William,  on  Lake  Superior, 
ia  August,  1816.    See  Statement,  page  64,  and  ObservatioDi,  page  U7. 


A\ 


N.  N.  Declaration  of  F.  F.  Boucher, 


XCTUI 


...■J>»'5PW?7J!>?i""»»*I»!r 


APPENDIX. 


[A.] 
THE  CHARTER*  OF  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COM- 
PANY  having  been  laid  before  Counsel,  the  following 
Opinions  were  given  upon  several  of  the  Points  submit* 
ted  to  them. 

We  are  of  opinion,  that  the  grant  of  the  soil  contained  in 
the  Charter  is  good  ;  and  that  it  will  include  ail  the  coun- 
try, the  waters  of  which  run  into  Hudson's  Bay,  as  ascer- 
tained by  geographical  observations. 

We  are  of  opinion,  that  an  individual  holding  from  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  lease,  or  grant  in  fee  simple,  of 
any  portion  of  their  territory,  will  be  entitled  to  all  the  or- 
dinary rights  of  landed  property  as  in  England,  and  will  be 
entitled  to  prevent  other  persons  from  occupying  any  part 
of  the  landH,  from  cutting  down  timber,  and  fishing  in  the 
adjoining  waters,  (being  such  as  a  private  right  of  fishing 
may  subsist  in,)  and  may,  (if  he  can  peaceably,  or  other- 
wise bv  due  course  of  law,)  dispossess  them  of  any  build- 
ings which  they  have  recently  erected  within  the  limits  of 
his  property. 

We  are  of  opinion,  that  the  grant  of  the  civil  and  crimi- 
nal jurisdiction  is  valid,  but  it  is  not  granted  to  the  Compa- 
ny, but  to  the  Governor  and  Council  at  their  respective 
establishments ;  but  we  cannot  recommend  it  to  be  exer- 
cised so  as  to  aflect  the  lives  or  limbs  of  criminals.  It  is  to 
be  exercised  by  the  Governor  and  Council  as  judges,  who 
are  to  proceed  according  to  the  laws  of  England. 

The  Company  may  appoint  a  sheriff  to  execute  judg- 
ments, and  to  do  his  duty  as  in  England. 

We  are  of  opinion,  that  the  sherilT,  in  case  of  resistance 
to  his  authority,  may  call  out  the  population  to  his  assist- 
ance, and  may  put  arms  into  the  hands  of  their  servants, 
for  defence  against  attack,  and  to  assist  in  enforcing  the 
judgments  of  the  court ;  but  such  powers  cannot  be  exer- 
cised with  too  much  circumspection. 

We  are  of  opinion,  that  all  persons  will  be  subject  to  the 


\     ^f 


I 


*  Granted  by  King  Charles  11.  An.  1670. 


'v-y-' 


^^.W♦.B*i-•*^rK?.; 


.  3»iB(;»K*»rt»v, 


r^*tv^-  ■-eim^'''"' 


>»M*«« 


it  APPRNDII. 

jurisdiction  of  the  Court,  who  reside,  or  are  found  within 
the  territories  over  which  it  extends. 

Wo  do  not  think  this  Act  (43rd  Geo.  III.  c.  138*^  gives 
jurisdiction  within  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  the  same  heing  within  the  jurisdiction  of  their 
own  Uovcrnoni  and  Council. 

We  arc  of  opinion,  that  the  Governor  (in  Hudson's  Bay) 
might,  under  tnc  authority  of  the  Company,  appoint  con* 
itanles,  and  other  ofKcers,  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace, 
and  that  the  officers  so  appointed,  would  have  the  same 
duties  and  privileges  as  similar  officers  in  England,  so  far 
as  these  duties  and  privileges  may  be  applicaole  to  their 
situation  in  the  territories  of  the  Company. 

(Signed)  SAMUEL  ROMILLY, 

g.  s.  holroyd, 
Wm.  cruise, 
j.  scarlett, 
john  bell. 


[  B.  ] 

Transactions  relative  to  a  Seizure  of  Provision  f  by  Mr,  Milts 

Macdonelh 
Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  who  was  Governor  of  the  dis- 
trict of  Ossiniboia,  in  right  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Compa- 
ny's Charter,  and  had  charge  of  the  Red  River  Settlement, 
expected  a  considerable  addition  of  new  settlers  in  the 
Autumn  of  1814,  and  being  apprehensive  thfeit  a  scarcity 
of  provisions  might  be  felt,  if  early  measures  were  not  ta- 
ken to  obtain  a  sufficient  quantity,  he,  in  the  month  of  Ja- 
nuary of  that  year,  gave  notice  to  the  traders, 'both  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  and  North- West  Companies,  that,  at  the 
opening  of  the  navigation,  no  more  would  be  Allowed  to  be 
carried  out  of  the  district,  than  what  might  be  requisite  for 
the  consumption  of  those  traders  ;  it  being,  as  he  thought, 
an  indispensable  duty  in  him  to  provide  for  the  resident 
inhabitants  of  the  district.  The  traders  of  both  Compa- 
nies, who  had  collected  provisions  from  the  Indians,  from 
whom  they  are  generally  procured,  were  to  be  paid  a  fair 
price  for  such  as  he  retained.  The  Hudson's  Bay  traders 
accordingly  delivered  up  their  surplus  quantity ;  but  those 
of  the  North- West  Company  refused,  and  attempted  to 
carry  out  of  the  district  all  which  they  had  collected. 
Upon  this,  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell  issued  a  warrant,  under 

*  Commonly  called  the  Canada  Jurisdiction  Act. 


■y   » 


APPENDIX. 


f 
er 


which  a  aeizuro  of  provitioni  was  madr  hy  Mr.  Spencer, 
the  aherifft  This  proceeding  gave  riwc  to  considerable 
diicustioni  between  Mr.  Miles  Mm  'loncll  aiul  Mr.  Dun- 
can Cameron,  and  others  of  the  Nunli' West  Company 
and  upon  their  representing  that  their  tradr  would  sufTc 
in  other  parts  of  tne  country,  if  deprived  ot  these  provi 
lions,  an  agreement  was  entered  into,  the  purport  of  which 
was,  that  tne  North- West  Company  should  retain  the  quan- 
tity requisite  for  their  trade  at  that  time,  and  should  sup- 
ply Mr.  Miles  Macdonell  with  an  equal  quantity  in  the 
winter,  if  it  should  be  wanted,  for  the  use  of  the  resident 
settlers.  This  agreement  was  not  sanctioned  b}  the  subse- 
quent general  meeting  of  the  North-West  partners,  who 
refused  to  confirm  the  acts  of  their  agents.  An  informa- 
tion was  laid  before  Mr.  Norman  M'Leod,  one  of  their 
partners,  and  a  magistrate  for  the  Indian  Territory,  who 
grtnted  a  warrant  to  apprehend  Mr.  Miles  Macdonell,  on  a 
cri:/iinal  charge  of  burglary  and  robbery. 

Mr.  Macdonell,  though  he  did  not  admit  that  he  was 
amenable  to  the  jurisdiction  under  which  the  warrant  was 
issued,  surrendered  himself,  for  the  reasons  stated  in  page 
36,  and  was  carried  down  to  Montreal,  where  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  trial  has  taken  place.  Mr.  Spencer,  the 
sheriff,  had  previously  been  apprehended  under  a  similar 
warrant,  and  carried  away  from  the  Red  River  settlement 
in  the  beginning  of  September,  18M,  and  detained  in  the 
custody  of  4he  North- West  Company  till  the  month  of  Au- 
gust in  the4bllowin^  year,  when  that  company  thought  fit, 
at  length,  to  bring  him  down  to  Montreal  \  but  his  trial  has 
oot  yet  taken  place. 


i 


C. 


LETTERS  FROM  D.  CAMERON  TO  THE  SETTLERS  AT 
RED  RIVER. 

To  Mestri.  Donald  Livingtton,  "i 
and  Hector  M^Eachem^  per  \ 
Boatonois  Pangtnan.  \ 

Gibraltar,  \Oth  February,  1816. 
Sirs,  • 

Your  letter  of  the  28th  ultimo,  by  Jordan, 
came  safe  to  hands,  and  I  am  very  glad  that  the  eyes  of 
some  of  you  are  getting  open  at  last  to  the  situation  you  are 


17 


APPBlfDIX. 


^) 


Bl 


placed  in,  in  this  barbarous  country,  and  that  you  now  se« 
your  past  follies  in  obeying  the  unlawful  orders  of  a  p)un> 
derer,  &nd,  I  may  say,  of  a  highway  robber,  for  what  took 
place  here  last  spring  can  be  called  nothing  else  but  mani- 
fest  robbery.    But  I  am  very  willing  to  forgive  as  many  as 
repent,  of  the  poor  deluded  men,  as  I  know  that  they  are  not 
bad  men  in  principles,  although  made  so  by  bad  leaders  and 
bad  advice.     You  say  very  true,  when  you  mention  that 
you  did  not  know  your  friends  from  your  foes ;  the  greatest 
enemies  ever  you  had,  is  Lord  Selkirk,  Doctor  Auld,  a.id 
Miles  M'Donell,  who  was  made  a  fool  of  by  them,  and  he 
made  fools  of  all  those  that  were  under  him.    I  know  all  the 
bad  usage  you  got,  and  the  many  injustices  that  were  done 
to  every  one  of  you  since  you  left  your  own  country  ;  the 
like  I  never  heard  before,  and  none  but  hard-hearted  bad 
men  would  use  their  fellow  creatures  in  such  a  manner.   In 
pity  to  your  present  deplorable  situations,  as  I  consideryou 
to  be  in  the  very  worst  of  prisons  here,  I  accept  your  ofiers, 
and  will  be  very  happy  to  take  so  many  of  my  countrymen 
and  fellow'subjects  out  of  bondage,  as  I  know  very  well  that 
Lord  Selkirk  will  never  take  any  of  you  home,  whatever 
promises  Miles  M'Donell  may  make  you  to  the  contrary. 
Vou  have  already  been  often  deceived  by  both  of  them,  and 
they  will  deceive  you  again  and  again,  if  they  can,  without 
being  ashamed  of  it,  as  deception  is  their  very  best  trade, 
therefore  I^ll  be  proud  of  being  your  deliverer.  I  do  not  ask 
you  a  penny  for  your  passage  or  provisions  to  go  out  with ; 
you  are  going  to  a  good  country,  where  you  may  make  a 
decent  living  for  yourselves  and  families  ;  we'll  oblige  our- 
selves to  get  lands  for  those  that  choose  to  take  |hem,  and 
will  throw  none  of  you  on  the  highway  as  beggars  till  you 
can  pi^yvide  for  yourselves.     I  have  no  interest  whatever  in 
making  yon  these  promises,  but  what  humanity  points  out 
to  me.     With  regard  to  your  wages,  I  can  say  very  little 
on  that  subject  without  seeing  how  your  agreements  are 
made  out,  but  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  make  any  one  lose 
his  salary,  which  is  notUke  another  debt.     If  you  can  only 
get  a  copy  of  your  accounts,  and  get  them  signed  by  Miles 
M'Donell,  we'll  do  our  best  to  recover  the  money  for  you  ; 
but  if  you  could  get  drafts  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
for  the  balance  of  your  wages,  I  would  myself  be  answera- 
ble to  you  for  every  penny  of  it.     I  am  told  the  great  cap- 
tain is  going  to  pay  you  a  visit ;  you'll,  I  believe,  find  him 
a  better  master  than  usual,  but  vou  may  thank  me  for  that, 
and  not  him,  as  he  is  afraid  of  what  will  soon  happen  to 
him.     I  said  last  fall,  when  M'Vicar  was  abusing  me  very 
much,  and  very  undeservedly,  that  I  would,  perhaps,  be  the 


I 


APPENDIX. 


you  now  se« 

irs  of  ft  p1un« 
or  what  took 
Ise  but  mani- 
'e  as  many  as 
t  they  are  not 
,d  leaders  and 
mention  that 
;  the  greatest 
or  Auld,  a.id 
them,  and  he 
[  know  all  the 
at  were  done 
[:ountry ;  tlie 
l-hearted  bad 

I  manner.   In 
consideryou 

)t  your  o£^rg, 

'  countrymen 

rery  well  that 

ne,  whatever 

;he  contrary. 

of  them,  and 

can,  without 

y  best  trade, 

I  do  not  ask 

go  out  with ; 

may  make  a 

II  oblige  our- 

i.e  Ahem,  and 

;^ars  till  you 

whatever  in 

ty  points  out 
ly  very  little 
cements  are 
any  one  lose 
you  can  only 
ed  by  Miles 
ley  for  you ; 
»y  Company 
be  answera- 
e  great  cap- 
!ve,  find  him 
me  for  that, 
n  happen  (o 
mg  me  very 
haps,  be  the 


best  friend  ever  the  colonists  met  with,  and  I  hope  to  make 
my  word  good  to  such  as  will  deserve  it  of  me-;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  I  shall  certainly  be  the  greatest  enemy  they  met 
with  yet  to  any  one  that  will  again  take  up  arms  to  fly  in 
the  face  of  the  law,  or  to  plunder.  I  remember  that  you, 
Livingston,  did  not  take  arms  last  fall ;  don't  be  afraid  that 
Captain  M'Donell  will  ever  know  any  of  my  secrets  from 
me,  but  take  care  that  Mrs.  M'Lean  here  will  know  none  of 
your  secrets,  for  she  would  sell  her  own  brother  to  him,  if 
he  was  here.  I  am  afraid  youMl  not  be  able  to  read  this 
scrawl,  as  I  am  really  in  great  haste,  and  remain. 

Your  sincere  well-wisher, 
(Signed)  D.  CAMERON. 

P.  S.  You  may  trust  the  bearer  with  any  thing  you  may 
have  to  say. 


Messrs.  Hector  M*Eachem, 
and  Donald  Livingston. 


Gibraltar,  lOth  March,  1815. 


Your  joint  letter  of  the  6th  instant  was  handed  to 
me  by  honest  John  Somerville,  and  I  am  happy,  on  your 
own  accounts,  that  you  are  still  of  the  same  way  of  think- 
ing, as  it  will  afford  me  an  opportunity  of  delivering  so  ma- 
ny  people  from  bondage,  and  not  only  that,  but  even  to 
save  your  lives,  which  is  every  day  in  danger  from  both  So- 
fcuse  and  Scioux.  Besides,  if  the  country  was  both  peace- 
able and  good.  Captain  M'Donell's  violent  and  foolish  con- 
duct would  drive  all  honest  men  out  of  it,  as  none  but 
rogues  an4  robbers  will  answer  his  purpose.  You  tell  me 
that  John  M'Vicar  will,  perhaps,  become  a  Canadian  yet. 
I  certainly  have  great  cause  to  be  displeased  with  him  for 
his  violent  conduct  and  abusive  language  to  me  last  fall,  an4 
could  even  get  him  tried  for  his  life,  but  still  my  humanity 
is  such  as  to  pardon  all  that.  If  he  will  acknowledge  his 
fault,  and  make  application  to  me  for  a  passage,  he  shall 
have  it,  and  I  pledge  my  word  and  honour  that  nothing 
shall  be  attempted  against  him  for  his  past  conduct,  as  I  am 
much  more  inclined  to  save  the  lives  of  poor  people,  than  I 
am  to  mean  revenge  against  a  countryman,  who,  1  am  told, 
is  the  son  of  an  honest  respectable  man.  M'Eachern,  and 
any  others  that  chooses  to  come  here,  shall  be  made  wel- 
come, and  shall  be  protected  against  any  insult.  As  for 
any  money  any  of  you  had  in  their  hands,  they  will  make 

p  D 


11 


-»f-i«»>*m,f»" 


-•r-"""«<«»»i<aii^ 


VI 


APPENDIX. 


11 


^i 


'\ 


1/ 


f 


fm  H 


i*i3i 

ftji 

PH ) 

in- 

pi 

3  T  w 

■  ^. 

i^u 

W^ 

pi 

i- 

i't'i  j 

P"; 

||;J 

fil. 

such  accounts  against  all  married  men  for  the  maintenance 
of  their  families,  that  there  will  not  be  a  penny  coming  to 
them.  You  need  not  expect  any  justice  whatever  from 
them  here,  but,  perhaps,  you  may  get  it  elsewhere  by  law ; 
however,  the  surest  way  is  to  get  whatever  you  can  out  of 
their  store,  and  I  will  take  any  article  that  can  be  of  use 
here  off  of  your  hands,  and  pay  you  in  Canada  for  them ; 
my  door  is  open  to  any  one  that  chooses  to  come,  at  all 
times,  and  weMl  make  the  best  shift  we  can  for  living  till 
spring. 

I  remain, 

Your  sincere  well-wisher, 
(Signed)  D.  CAMERON. 

The  originals  of  the  above  letters  were  given  in  by  II. 
M'Eachem  with  his  deposition,  taken,  upon  oath,  at  Mon- 
treal, in  October,  1815. 


To  the  Servants  of  the  Honourable  Hudson^  Bay  Company^  and 
those  of  the  Settlement  of  Red  River. 
Mv  Lads, 

You  have  once  already  been  fully  apprized 
by  a  gentleman  here,  that  in  all  our  endeavours  to  bring 
the  prisoner,  Mr.  Miles  M'Donell,  to  justice,  the  smallest 
intention  to  injure  your  persons,  public  or  private  property, 
as  well  as  that  of  your  employers,  was  never  by  me  in  con- 
templation. As  several  of  you  were  not  then  present,  and 
are  probably  now  deluded  by  your  employers,  by  advising 
you  to  act  contrary  to  law,  1  think  it  necessary,  once  more 
for  all,  to  advise  you  as  a  fellow-subject,  to  pay  due  re- 
spect, submission,  and  obedience,  to  the  law  of  our  blessed 
constitution.  And  I  further  declare,  that  any  person,  or 
persons,  who  shall  be  found  in  future  attempting,  by  any 
means,  to  rescue  and  screen  the  prisoner  from  justice,  shall 
immediately  be  considered  as  accomplices  in  his  crimes, 
and  treated  accordingly.  That  your  own  good  sense  and 
judgment  may  dictate  to  you,  free  of  party  spirit,  a  true 
sense  of  the  impropriety  of  violating,  or  acting  in  direct 
opposition  to,  your  country's  laws,  is,  my  Lads,  the  sincere 
wish  of  your  well-wisher, 

(Signed)  D.  CAMERON, 

Captain,  Voyat^eur  Corps, 
Cuinmanding  Officer^  Red  River. 
Red  River,  Indian  Territory, 
June"!,  1816. 


>n  ? 


•mtfis ".■'•"Mi^>*ty** 


n  mhw  m.111.*****"*"-^-   ■'■■*.»- 


APPENDIX. 


D. 


VII 


Montreal, 


Deposition  of  Michael  MDonell, 
Michael  M'Donell,  late  of  the  Red  River, 


to  wit :  5  in  the  territories  of  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company , 
a  clerk  in  the  service  of  Earl  Selkirk,  at  Red  River  afore- 
said, now  at  the  city  of  Montreal,  in  the  province  of  L  >wer 
Canada,  maketh  oath.  That  about  the  eighteenth  day  of 
April  last,  the  deponent,  being  then  a  clerk  in  the  service 
of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  as  aforesaid,  was  apprehended  and 
made  prisoner  by  the  servants  of  the  North- West  Compa- 
ny, under  a  warrant  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  A.  Norman 
M'Leod,  Esq.  for  an  alleged  breach  of  the  peace,  and 
was  conveyed  and  detained  a  prisoner  at  a  fort,  or  post,  in 
the  possession  of  the  said  North-West  Company,  at  a  plac« 
called  the  Forks,  at  Red  River  aforesaid.  That  while  the 
deponent  was  detained  at  the  said  fort,  or  post,  the  same 
was  under  the  command  and  orders  of  one  Duncan  Came- 
ron, a  partner  in  the  said  North-West  Company,  in  whose 
custody  the  deponent  was.  That,  on  or  about  the  tenth 
day  of  June  last,  the  deponent  being  still  in  the  said  fort,  an 
attack  was  made  by  an  armed  force,  composed  of  persons 
under  the  orders  of  the  said  Duncan  Cameron,  who  were 
furnished  with  arms  and  ammunition  for  that  purpose  in 
the  said  fort,  on  the  settlement  of  the  colonists  at  Red 
River  aforesaid,  in  the  night  of  that  day,  and  upon  the  re- 
turn of  the  party  to  the  said  fort,  or  post,  the  deponent 
heard  one  Cuthbert  Grant,  a  man  of  the  half-breed,  and  a 
clerk  in  the  service  of  the  said  North-West  Company,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  party  by  which  the  said  attack  was 
made,  declare,  that  not  a  man  of  the  said  settlement  should 
put  out  his  head  the  next  day  without  being  popped  off, 
and  this  was  said  in  the  presence  and  hearing  of  the  said 
Duncan  Cameron,  who  acquiesced  in,  and  approved  of, 
what  was  so  said  by  the  said  Cuthbert  Grant.  That  the 
day  following  the  said  party  of  men  sallied  forth  from  tlie 
said  fort  about  break  of  day  to  renew  the  attack  on  the  said 
settlement,  and  upon  their  return,  the  deponent  heard  the 
said  Grant,  and  one  Seraphim,  also  a  clerk  in  the  service 
of  the  said  North-West  Company,  and  others  of  the  said 
party,  speak  of  the  attack  which  they  had  just  made  on  the 
Government  House  in  the  said  settlement,  in  which  it  was 
said  some  of  the  settlers  or  persons  residing  in  the  colony 
had  been  wounded,  and  several  of  them  boasted  of  what 
they  had  done.  That  the  consequence  of  the  said  attacks 
was  a  surrender  of  the  Kaid  settlement  to  the  said  Duncan 


jamftfrniiSl  If  hilfiilKIWI 


vHi 


APPENDIX. 


Cameron,  and  the  houses  and  buildings  of  all  descriptions 
were  ailcrwards  burnt  by  the  persons  aforesaid,  being>  un- 
der  the  comniand  and  orders  of  the  said  Duncan  Cameron, 
and  the  settlers  and  inhabitants  of  the  colony  conveyed 
away  by,  or  under,  the  orders  of  the  said  Duncan  Came- 
ron. That,  after  the  destruction  of  the  said  settlement  as 
aforesaid,  the  deponent,  while  a  prisoner  in  the  said  fort, 
was  present  at  part  of  a  speech  made  by  Alexander  M'Do- 
nell,  one  of  the  partners  in  the  said  North-West  Company, 
to  the  persons  in  the  said  fort,  in  which  he  assured  the  Ca- 
nadians,  and  Indians  of  the  half-breed,  by  whom  the  said 
settlement  had  been  destroyed,  that  they  would  be  sup- 
ported by  the  said  North-West  Company  in  every  thing 
they  had  done.  That  the  deponent  has  heard  the  said 
Duncan  Cameron  and  Alexander  M'Donell  say,  that  the 
settlement  aforesaid  could  not  succeed  without  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  said  North-West  Company,  and  he  has  also 
heard  them  declare  that  there  should  be  no  settlement 
there.  That  while  the  deponent  was  a  prisoner  as  afore- ' 
said,  various  inducements  were  held  out  to  him  by  the  said 
Duncan  Cameron,  and  Alexander  M'Donell,  to  enter  into 
the  service  of  the  said  Norlh-West  Company,  which  he  de- 
clined doing.  That  while  the  deponent  was  in  the  said 
fort,  he  saw  there  horses,  muskets,  cannon,  and  farming 
utensils,  which  had  belonged  to  the  said  colony j'^and  which 
were  then  in  the  use  of  the  persons  in  the  said  d^, 

(Signed)  MICHAEL  M'DONELL. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  this  20th  day  of 
September,  1815,  before  me, 

(Signed)  THOMAS  M'CORD,  J.  P. 


[  E.  ] 

Deposition  of  John  Cooper. 

Home  District, )  The  information  of  John  Cooper,  Mte 
York,  to  wit :  ^  of  Red  River,  in  the  district  of  Ossiniboia, 
territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who,  being  duly 
sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  saith,  that  he  went  from 
Orkney,  in  the  year  1811,  as  an  indented  servant,  and  ar- 
rived at  Red  River  in  autumn  1813,  along  with  Miles  Mac- 
donell,  Esq.  governor  of  the  settlement,  and  continued  un- 
der his  command  till  the  expiration  of  his  contract  in  1814, 
ut  which  time  he,  the  deponent,  was  entitled  to  a  free  pas- 
sage home,  and  might  have  gone  home  if  he  had  desired  it, 


t*^,^fyf^. ». ,.  -m-  **■  ■■#  *i»^**ri<**nrrr"**M-*— rt*  .^ww-w^r-'r-w^^-M-*" 


■*'»T-lir  ^  m  itiWHw^nw^P^ 


APPENDIX. 


ii 


but  he  prelerred  remaining  at  Red  River  as  a  settler.  That 
he  married  about  the  end  of  the  year  1813;  and  that  next 
spring,  before  his  contracted  period  of  service  was  expired, 
he  was  allowed  to  plant  a  piece  of  ground  with  potatoes  for 
his  own  use,  from  which  he  had  an  abundant  crop.     That 
most  of  the  crops  had  been  reaped  while  the  deponent  was 
absent  from  the  settlement,  but  he  was  infoniied  that  the 
crops  of  wheat  and  barley  were  good  ;  that  he,  the  depo- 
nent, had  no  intention  of  leaving  Red  River,  and  never  ap- 
plied to  the  North-VVest  Company  for  the  means  of  going 
away ;  but  that  early  last  winter,  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron, 
master  of  the  trading  post  of  the  said  North- West  Compa- 
ny on  Red  River,  advised  him,  deponent,  to  go  to  Canada, 
and  offered  to  procure  the  means  of  conveyance  for  him, 
saying,  that  he  should  be  brought  to  a  good  country,  where 
the  settlers  might  save  their  lives,  and  be  in  a  good  situa- 
tion.    Pie,  the  said  Duncan  Cameron,  also  told  him,  de- 
ponent, that  the  Indians  intended  to  destroy  the  settlers  at 
Red  River,  men,  women,  and  children,  and  were  restrain- 
ed only  by  the  influence  of  himself,  the  said  Duncan  Ca- 
meron ;  that  these  representations  were  repeated  to  the 
deponent  several  different  times  before  he  agreed  to  come 
away  from  the  settlement,  and  he  did  not  agree  till  he 
heard  that  asreat  many  of  the  other  settlers  had  resolved 
to  go.     ThaTon  the  morning  of  the  day  when  the  cannon 
of  the  colo)^  were  taken  away  by  the  settlers,  George 
Campbell  came  to  the  house  of  Neil  M'Kinnon,  where  de- 
ponent resided,  and  read  to  them  a  paper  or  letter  from  the 
said  Duncan  Cameron,  saying,  that  the  settlers  must  take 
the  cannon,  otherwise  they  would  themselves  be  in  danger 
from  them.     He,  deponent,  would  not  agree  to  assist  in 
removing  the  cannon,  but  agreed  to  go  along  with  George 
Campbell  into  the  house  occupied  by  the  officers  of  the 
settlement,  in  order  to  deliver  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron's  let- 
ter} Ihat,  while  they  were  thus  engaged,  the  cannon  had 
been  taken  out  by  others  of  the  settlers,  and  placed  ou 
sledges,  on  which  they  were  carried  away ;  and  when  he, 
deponent,  came  out  of  the  house,  he  saw  the  said  Duncan 
Cameron,  who  was  coming  out  of  a  wood  at  a  short  dis- 
tance, and  went  with  the  settlers  and  the  cannon  to  his 
own  fort  or  trading  post,  where  he  took  in  the  cannon,  and 
entertained,  with  drams,  all  those  who  had  assisted  in  bring- 
ing them.     That  the  deponent  soon  after  left  the  settle- 
ment, and  went  to  another  trading  post  of  the  North-West 
Company,  from  which  he  returned  in  the  month  of  May, 
and  staid  for  ten  or  twelve  days  at  the  aforesaid  fort  on 


ll 


■I 


\  :-J 


iP 


•nmmmmmmmr' 


^JIWl 


X  APPENDIX. 

Red  River,  where  he  saw  a  great  number  of  men  assem- 
bled. There  were  many  more  of  the  Canadian  servant;) 
of  the  North- West  Company  than  had  been  there  during 
the  winter.  Also,  about  thirty  half-Indians,  who  express- 
ed violent  hostility  against  the  settlement.  He,  deponent, 
had  been,  in  the  course  of  the  winter,  in  the  plains  near 
Pembina,  where  he  saw  the  same  half-Indians,  and  heard 
them  express  tlic  same  hostility  against  the  settlement ; 
but  the  deponent  never  saw  any  thing  of  the  same  kind  du- 
ring the  two  preceding  winters  ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  ma- 
ny of  the  same  half-Indians  were  then  in  the  habit  of  tra- 
ding with  the  officers  of  the  settlement,  and  supplying  them 
with  buffhloe  meat  and  other  game,  which  they  refused  to 
ficU  last  winter. 

(Signed)    .  JOHN  COOPER. 

Sworn  before  me,  at  York,  the 
12th  day  of  February,  1816. 

(Signed)        ALEXANDER  WOOD,  J.  P.  \ 


F. 

Deposition  of  Robert  Sutherland, 

Home  District, )  The  information  of  Robert  Sutherland, 
to  wit :  \  late  of  Red  River,  in  the  district  of  Ossi- 
niboia,  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Depo- 
nent being  duly  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  saith,  that 
he  arrived  at  Red  River  in  June,  1814,  and  was  well 
pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  country ;  that  the  crops 
which  he  saw  in  the  ensuing  harvest,  were  very  good  ;  and 
the  wheat  was  good.  That  he,  deponent,  understood  that 
the  settlers  in  general  were  as  well  pleased  as  himself,  nor 
thought  of  leaving  the  country  till  after  the  arrest  of  Mr. 
Spencer ;  and  the  deponent  is  of  opinion,  that  if  Mr.  Spen- 
cer had  not  been  taken  away,  none  of  the  settlers  would 
have  thought  of  leaving  the  country.  That  the  deponent 
never  observed  any  appearance  of  hostility  among  the  In- 
dians, whom  they,  the  settlers,  saw  during  the  summer, 
nor  entertained  any  apprehension  of  danger,  till  they,  the 
settlers,  heard  from  the  servants  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, that  Duncan  Cameron,  master  of  this  trading  post  of 
the  said  Company,  told  deponent  and  his  wife,  that  the  In- 
dians would  come  in  the  spring  and  murder  all  the  settlers, 
after  he,  Duncan  Cameron,  would  leave  the  place  in  the 
spring,  when  the  Indians  would  certainly  murder  them  all. 


■  »H»«t*imwff  ■ii  fHP^nypf 


<»  M  ^^  «|A  fiMB^Ml^jip* 


APPENDIX. 


SI 


Duncan  Cameron  also  said,  that  Miles  Macdonell,  Esq.  go- 
vernor of  the  settlement,  would  have  no  provisions  to  give 
to  the  settlers,  unless  he,  Miles  Macdonell,  would  take  it  by 
force,  as  he  had  done  before  ;  for  that  reason,  Duncan  Ca- 
meron told  deponent  and  his  wife,  that  they  might  have  a 
passage  to  Canada,  if  they  chose ;  and  said  to  deponent 
and  his  wife,  they  should  not  only  have  a  free  passage  to 
Canada,  but  that  the  Government  would  give  them  lands 
and  provisions  for  a  year ;  or,  if  Government  did  not  do  so, 
the  North-West  Company  would.      That  deponent  was 
with  the  said  Duncan  Cameron  about  half  an  hour  ;  depo- 
nent's wife  went  with  him  ;  and  that  Cameron,  during  that 
time,  told  them  of  the  intentions  of  the  Indians,  after  he 
(Cameron)  left:  the  place  ;  and  promised  deponent  and  his 
wife  a  passage  to  Canada,  free  of  expense,  lands  and  pro- 
visions, as  stated  before.     That  deponent  and  his  wife  had 
gone  to  the  said  Cameron,  in  consequence  of  (he  reports 
about  the  Indians,  and  for  the  purpose  of  asking  a  passage 
from    the  said  Cameron. — Deponent    frequently  heard 
Cameron  s'iy,  that  he  was  a  King's  officer,  and  that  Miles 
Macdonell,  Esq.  had  no  authority  from  the  King,  or  no 
lawful  authority.    Deponent  heard  a  letter  read  by  George 
Campbell,  one  of  the  settlers,  from  Duncan  Cameron, 
saying,  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  settlers  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  cannon  of  the  colony,  in  order  to  prevent 
mischief;  and  that  he,  Duncan  Cameron,  would  indemni- 
fy the  settlers  from  the  consequences  of  taking  them. — 
That  depo)ient  was  present  when  the  settlers,  in  pursu- 
ance of  this  advice,  did  seize  upon  and  carry  away  the 
cannon ;  that  as  soon  as  they  had  possession  of  them,  a 
shot  was  fired ;  which  deponent  believes  to  have  been  in- 
tended as  a  signal ;  and  that,  immediately  after,  the  said 
Duncan  Cameron  came  out  of  a  wood,  where  he  had  been 
concealed,  at  a  short  distance,  along  with  Cuthbert  Grant, 
and  William  Shaw,  clerks  in  the  service  of  the  North-Wcst 
Company,  and  a  party  of  armed  men,  who  conducted  the 
guns  to  tiie  fort,  or  trading  post  of  the  said  Company,  when 
eachof  ihe  settlers  present  at  the  taking  of  the  guns,  got  a 
dram.    Deponent  says,  that  in  the  month  of  January,  when 
Miles  Macdonell,  Esq.  set  out  for  Pembina,  a  number  of 
the  young  men  at  the  settlement  were  desired  to  go  with 
him  to  the  plains,  in  order  to  procure  butlaloc  meat ;  they 
refused  to  go.     Deponent  heard  the  said  Duncan  Cameron 
say,  that  Miles  Macdonell  would  not  be  able  to  get  any 
meat  in  the  plains,  because  he  had  not  paid  his  huntor« 
last  year,  and  none  would  hunt  for  him  now  ;  and  de|)0!ieiit 


pi 

I:  (5 


XII 


APPENDIX. 


believes  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  these  representa* 
tions,  that  the  settlers  refused  to  go  with  the  said  Miles 
Macdonell  to  the  plains. 

Deponent  says,  that  on  the  cannon  being  put  into  the 
French  fort,  the  settlers  returned  to  their  houses,  where 
they  staid  a  few  days,  and  then  went  on  with  George  Camp- 
bell, about  three  days  journey ;  when  George  Campbell 
told  them,  that  William  Shaw  was  made  prisoner,  and  they, 
the  settlers,  must  go  back  and  relieve  him,  the  said  Shaw ; 
that  the  settlers  were  all  armed,  and  had  powder  and  shot, 
and  that  they  did  return  ;  that  William  Shaw  was  liberated 
without  their  assistance,  and  they  again  set  out  on  their 
journey. 

His 
(Signed)  ROBERT  +  SUTHERLAND. 

Mark. 
Sworn  before  me,  at  York,  the 
17th  February,  18 IC. 

(Signed)        ALEXANDER  WOOD,  J.  P. 


\ 


[  G.  ] 

Deposition  of  Angus  M-Kay.      . 

Home  District,  )  The  information  of  Angus  M'Kay,  late 
to  wit :  ^  of  Red  River,  in  the  district  of  Ossiniboia, 
and  territory  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  saith, 
that  it  is  consistent  with  his  knowledge,  that  when  Miles 
Macdonell,  Esq.  governor  of  the  country  of  Ossiniboia,  set 
out  from  the  Forks  of  Red  River,  in  the  month  of  January, 
last  year,  he  desired  that  a  number  of  the  young  men  should 
go  with  him  to  the  plains,  in  order  to  procure  provisions 
for  themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  settlers ;  but  that  they 
refused  to  go,  having  been  led  to  believe,  that  it  was  his 
intention  to  rob  the  North-West  Company  of  their  provi- 
sions, instead  of  procuring  them  fairly.  That  the  depo- 
nent was  in  dread  of  the  Indians,  having  been  told  by  offi- 
cers of  the  Norlh-West  Company,  that  the  Indians  intend- 
ed to  murder  all  the  settlers ;  and  he  was  also  in  fear  of 
want  of  provisions ;  in  consequence  of  which,  the  depo- 
nent applied  to  Duncan  Cameron,  master  of  the  North- 
West  Company's  trading  post,  by  whom  he  was  assured 
that  all  the  settlers  should  receive  lands  in  Upper  Canada ; 
and  if  Government  would  not  give  them,  the  North-West 
Company  would. 


m 


APPENDIX. 


Illl 


That  in  the  month  of  March,  it  was  reported  among  the 
settlers,  that  Mr.  Archibald  M'Donald  had  said,  that  the 
cannon  should  be  mounted  on  the  large  boat,  to  prevent 
the  settlers  from  going  away ;  and,  that  the  same  had  been 
said  by  three  Irish  labourers  in  the  service  of  the  colony, 
which  reports  created  great  uneasiness  among  the  settlers ; 
that  on  a  Saturday  evening,  about  the  end  of  March,  George 
Campbell  communicated  to  John  Matheson,  junior,  and  to 
the  deponent,  a  plan  for  seizing  the  cannon  on  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  at  the  time  when  the  settlers  would  be  assem- 
bled at  the  store-house  of  the  colony,  to  receive  their 
monthly  supply  of  provisions ;  and  that  the  said  George 
Campbell  read  them  a  letter  from  the  said  Duncan  Came- 
ron, saying,  that  all  the  settlers,  who  wished  to  go  to  Ca- 
nada, must  help  to  take  the  cannon  ;  and  George  Camp- 
bell also  read  to  the  deponent  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  the 
said  Duncan  Cameron  to  Archibald  M'Donald,  ordering 
him  to  deliver  up  the  cannon,  because  they  were  used  to 
stop  the  King's  highway,  meaning  the  navigation  of  the 
river;  and  declaring  that  the  cannon  should  be  taken  only 
to  prevent  harm,  and  not  to  make  any  bad  use  of  them. 
That,  on  the  following  day,  the  said  George  Campbell, 
f^ith  the  deponent,  and  John  Matheson,  communicated  this 
^rder  to  the  rest  of  the  settlers  who  had  assembled  for  di- 
vine service.  That,  on  the  forenoon  of  Monday,  the  set- 
tlers assembled  as  had  been  agreed  upon ;  and  after  most 
ofthem-had  received  their  supply  of  provisions,  George 
Campbell  took  the  deponent  and  another  of  the  settlers 
with  him  into  the  house,  to  deliver  a  letter  to  Mr.  Archi- 
bald McDonald,  which  the  deponent  understood  to  be  the 
order  from  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron,  to  deliver  up  the  can- 
non. That  Mr.  M'Donald  did  not  attempt  to  resist,  but 
called  three  witnesses,  (one  Kilbride  was  one  of  them  ;  de- 
ponent does  not  know  the  others,)  to  attest  that  they  were 
taken  by  force  against  his  will ;  that,  in  the  mean  time, 
others  of  the  settlers  had  taken  the  cannon  out  of  the  store  ; 
and  when  the  deponent  came  out  of  the  house,  they  were 
nearly  ready  to  be  carried  away,  on  the  sledges  which  had 
been  prepared.  That  when  they  were  ready,  one  of  the 
settlers,  whom  the  deponent  believes  to  have  been  Robert 
Gunn,  fired  a  shot,  and  that  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  then 
came  forward,  and  met  the  settlers  at  the  distance  of  thirty 
or  forty  yards  from  the  house,  when  he  shook  hands  with 
some  of  them,  signifying  his  pleasure  at  what  they  had 
done.     That  the  deponent  afterwards  left  the  Eed  River, 

B  E 


-  ■■»  Ml 


••f»mmm-.. 


XI? 


APPENDIX. 


1  !    I 


mf^ 


and  came  to  Canada  in  the  canoes  of  the  North^West  Com* 
pany,  and  was  for  some  time  at  Fort  William,  on  his  way, 
where  he  heard  several  of  the  clerks  of  the  North-Wcst 
Company  say,  that  the  Company  were  in  no  fear  of  the 
conse(|uences  of  what  they  had  done  at  Red  River,  The 
persons  who  went  in  to  dehver  the  order  to  M'Donald,  to 
deliver  the  cannon,  were  deponent,  Andrew  M^Beth,  and 
George  Campbell,  who  went  in  lirst. 

(Signed)  ANGUS  M'KAY. 

Sworn  before  me,  at  York,  in  the 
Home  District,  Province  of  Up- 
per Canada,  the  lOtn  day  of  Fe- 
bruary, 1U16. 
(Signed)        ALEXANDER  WOOD,  J.  P. 


[H.  ] 


Drposition  of  Xeil  M'Kt 


mnon. 

Home  District,  )      iNroRMATiON  of  Neil  M'Kinnon,  3atc  of 
York,  to  wit :  ^  Red  River,  in  the  district  of  Ossiniboia, 
territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Deponent  being  duly  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists, 
saith,  that  he  arrived  at  Red  River  aforesaid,  in  the  year 
1812;  that  the  Indians  always  bch»ved  in  a  very  friendly 
manner  to  the  settlers,  and  they  neve  (  had  any  fear  of  them 
till  last  winter,  Mr.  Duncan  Cameroi.,  master  of  the  trading 
post  of  the  North-West  Company  at  the  Forks  of  Red 
River,  told  the  settlers,  that  the  Indians  had  determined  to 
murder  them  all,  unless  they  would  quit  the  settlement. 
Deponent  heard  this  story  from  George  Campbell.  That 
about  the  month  of  January  last,  the  said  Duncan  Cameron 
advised  deponent  to  go  to  Canada,  and  offered  to  give  him 
a  passage  in  the  canoes  of  the  North-West  Company.  Ca- 
meron said  Canada  was  a  good  country,  and  he  would  take 
him  to  Montreal.  That  on  the  day  when  the  cannon  were 
taken  away  by  the  settlers,  deponent  was  at  John  Mathe- 
son's  house,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  and  saw  a 
party  of  men  conceal  themselves  in  a  clump  of  wood  within 
a  short  diiitance  of  the  house  belonging  to  the  governor  of 
the  colony,  where  they  waited  till  the  settlers  had  brought 
out  the  cannon,  and  then  came  forward  to  receive  them, 
and  convey  them  to  the  fort,  or  trading  post  of  the  North- 
"VA'est  C'Mi.pany.  That  when  deponent  went  away  from 
Red  River,  deponent  had  some  implements  of  agriculture 


APPENDIX. 


XV 


out  of  the  store  of  the  colony ;  that  when  he  was  cnmins 
away,  he  asked  Mr.  Duncan  Carneroii  whether  he  should 
return  them  into  the  store  of  the  colony.  Cameron  said, 
"  put  them  into  my  store  ;  if  Lord  Selkirk  has  any  right 
to  them  they  shall  be  returned  to  him,  but  they  are  mark- 
ed  down  against  you  in  the  books,  and  you  will  have  to  pay 
for  them  whether  or  not ;"  and  he  did  deliver  into  the 
store  of  the  North- West  Company,  two  hoes,  one  axe,  and 
one  spade.  He  also  gave  in  other  articles  belonging  to 
himself,  and  deponent  received  seven  or  eight  pounds  for 
them  from  Duncan  Cameron  after  he  had  come  to  Fort 
William  on  Lake  Superior.  Deponent  thought  that  by 
delivering  back  these  things  he  would  not  have  to  pay  for 
them  hereafter. 

His 
(Signed)  NEIL  +  M^KIMON. 

Mark. 
Sworn  before  me,  at  York, 
16th  February,  1816. 

(Signed)        ALEXANDER  WOOD,  J.  P. 


Deposition  of  Michael  Kilbride, 

District  of  )  The  information  of  Michael  Kilbride,  ta- 
Ossiniboia.  \  ken  upon  oath  before  me,  Miles  Macdonell, 
Esq.  one  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace,  in  said  dis- 
trict. 

Deponent  declares,  that  on  Monday,  the  3d  of  April 
instant,  about  one  o'clock,  P.  M.  George  Campbell  entered 
the  servant'?  house,  and  told  him,  that  they  were  going  to 
take  away  the  field-pieces.  Deponent  told  the  said  George 
Campbell  that  that  was  a  bad  business.  Campbell  replied, 
that  they  could  not  help  it,  as  it  was  Captain  Cameron's 
orders  that  the  lield-pieces  should  be  taken  to  his  fort  till 
the  settlers  left  this  country ;  and  the  said  George  Camp- 
bell, at  the  same  time,  showed  deponent  a  pair  of  pocket 
pistols,  which  he  thinks  was  done  with  the  intention  of 
frightening  him.  Deponent  went  out  to  inform  Mr.  Bourke, 
but  could  not  tind  him.  He  then  saw  the  artillery  on  horse- 
sledges,  George  Bannerman  taking  hold  of  a  small  howitzer, 
and  Robert  Gunn  standing  opposite  the  door  of  one  of  the 
store-houses  with  a  gun  aeross  his  breast,  which  he  hred  as 
goon  as  the  artillery  were  drawn  away.     Immediat"^'^' 


-*'*"  ^■"- 


'^bPIT 


^h"-' 


IVI 


APrBNOlX. 


Mr.  Duncnn  Cameron,  with  a  gun  in  hii  band,  ^aa  seen 
coming  out  of  the  wood,  at  the  hrad  of  a  party  0^  armed 
men.  When  hu  came  to  the  settlers,  deponent  saw  him 
shake  hands  with  them,  and  heard  him  exclaim,  "  Well 
done,  my  hearty  fellows !''  and  usk  them  if  there  were  any 
more.  The  deponent  also  aaw  John  Early  with  Mr.  Ca- 
meron's party,  and  Donald  M'Kinnon,  John  Murray,  and 
others,  cuarduig  the  outer  door  of  the  Cjovernment  Build- 
ing, during  the  lime  the  settlers  were  carrying  away  the 
tteld-picccs. 

His 
MICHAEL  +  KILBRIDE. 
Mark. 

Sworn  at  Red  River  Settlement,  this 
25th  day  of  April,  1815,  before  me, 

*  MILES  MACDONELL,  J.  P. 


[K.  ] 

Df position  of  John  Bonrke, 

District  of  )  The  information  of  Mr.  John  Bourkc,  ta- 
Ossiniboia.  ^  ken  upon  oath  before  me.  Miles  Macdonell, 
Esq.  one  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  in  said  dis- 
trict. 

Deponent  declares,  that  on  Monday,  the  3d  day  of  April 
instant,  the  settlers  assembled  there  to  be  supplied  with 
provisions,  and  tliat  about  the  hour  of  one,  P.  M.  of  the 
same  day,  he  saw  several  pieces  of  the  colonial  artillery  on 
a  horse-sledge,  and  that  He  laid  hold  of  one  of  them  to  take 
it  off,  but  was  seized  by  several  of  the  settlers,  and  told  to 
keep  off.  Deponent  then  attemped  to  get  into  the  mess- 
room,  where  Messrs.  White  and  McDonald  were,  to  inform 
them  of  what  was  going  on,  but  was  stopped  by  Donald 
Mackinnon,  John  Murray,  and  others.  Deponent  after- 
wards endeavoured  to  get  into  the  store-house,  where  he 
had  been  serving  out  the  provisions,  but  was  kept  back  by 
Robert  Gunn,  who  guarded  the  door  with  a  gun  across  his 
breast.  Deponent  further  says,  that  he  had  not  remained 
long  outside  till  those  who  guarded  the  outer  door  of  the 
main  building  told  him  that  he  might  now  enter.  Depo- 
nent further  declares,  that  he  saw  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron, 
of  the  North- West  Company,  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  arm- 
ed men  coming,  out  of  the  wood,  and  as  he  approached  the 


APPCHDIZ. 


IVII 


) ,  Waa  teen 
'  of  armed 
it  saw  him 
m,  "  Well 
B  were  any 
th  Mr.  Ca- 
[urray,  and 
lent  Uuild- 
;  oway  the 


lettlen  heard  him  cry  out  not  to  he  afraid.  Deponent 
afterward!  went  into  the  store-house,  where  the  ficld-piecea 
were,  and  found  that  all  of  them  were  carried  away ,  and 
alio  a  small  howitzer. 

JOHN  P.  BOURKE. 
Sworn  at  Red  River  Settlement,  the 
25th  day  of  April,  1815,  before  me, 

MILES  MACDONELL,  J.  P. 


s^^ 


BRIDE. 


L,  J.  P. 


Bourkc,  ta* 
Macdonell, 
in  said  dis- 

Eiy  of  April 
)lied  with 
\i.  of  the 
rtillery  on 
cm  to  take 
md  told  to 
the  mess- 
to  inform 
)y  Donald 
lent  after- 
where  he 
»t  back  by 
across  his 
remained 
»or  of  the 
Depo- 
Cameron, 
:y  of  arm- 
iched  the 


Montreal, 


[L.  ] 

Deposition  of  Hector  J\^Eachem, 
Hector  M'Eachern,  late  of  the  colony  of 


ml, ) 
to  wit :  ^  Red  River,  within  the  territories  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  in  North  America,  now  at  the  city  of 
Montreal,  in  the  province  of  Lower  Canada,  taylor,  maketh 
oath,  that  he  was  employed  in  the  service  of  the  said  colo* 
ny  for  nearly  three  years  previous  to  the  month  of  June 
last,  and  lived  there  with  his  wife  and  family.  That  after 
some  difficulties,  which  they  encountered  in  the  tirst  winter 
after  they  arrived,  were  got  over,  the  colonists,  and  the 
servants  employed  in  the  service  of  the  colony,  were  well 
satisfied  with  their  situation ;  they  found  the  soil  and  cli- 
mate excellent,  and  great  facility  in  obtaining  food  ;  and 
there  was  none  of  them  that  did  not  desire  to  remain  in  the 
country.  This  disposition  prevailed  till  the  agents  and  ser- 
vants of  the  North-West  Com.  ny,  and  particularly  one 
Duncan  Cameron,  a  partner  in  that  Company,  employed 
themselves  in  exciting  dii$r;atisfaction  in  the  minds  of  some 
of  the  settlers  and  servants,  whom  they  endeavoured  to  in- 
duce to  abandon  the  colon^  and  go  over  to  the  North-West 
Company ;  by  which  grc;«  i  promises  of  advantage  were 
made  to  them.  That  be  lore  these  intrigues  were  practi- 
sed, every  body  looked  forward  to  the  rapid  improvement 
of  the  colony;  the  settlers  were  so  well  pleased  with  it, 
that  they  had  written  to  invite  their  friends  in  Scotland  to 
follow  them  ;  and  the  indented  servants,  who  had  a  right  to 
a  passage  home,  preferred  remaining  as  settlers,  and  ap- 
plied to  Captain  M'Donell  for  land,  that  they  might  become 
permanent  settlers  in  the  colony.  That  the  said  Duncan 
Cameron,  as  the  deponent  believes,  in  order  to  increase  his 
influence  and  authority,  gave  himself  out  as  being  a  cap- 
tain in  the  King's  military  service,  and  wore  regimentals, 
with  a  sword,  &c.  And  one  Seraphim,  a  clerk  under  him, 
W-  _  ""V- 


'^' 


XVlll 


APPENDIX. 


I) 


I 

[I 


■  r 


was  said  to  be  his  ensign.  That  a  short  time  before  the 
attack  on  the  settlement,  in  June  last,  the  said  Cameron, 
the  better  to  confirm  the  belief  of  his  mihtary  rank  and  au- 
thority, posted  over  the  gate  of  the  place  called  Fort  Gib- 
raltar, written  papers,  the  purport  of  which  was  to  give 
him  such  rank  and  authority :  and  on  his  way  down,  at  a 
trading  post  of  the  North- West  Company,  called  Fort  Wil- 
liam, the  deponent  saw  new  regimental  dresses,  which  had 
been  received  for  partners  in  the  North- West  Company; 
and  he  saw  two  of  the  said  partners  there  dressed  in  mili- 
tary uniform.  That  no  apprehensions  were  felt  by  the  co- 
lonists at  Red  River,  upon  the  score  of  the  Indians,  the 
best  understanding  having  subsisted  between  them  :  the 
Soutoux  nation  dwelling  on,  and  near  Red  River,  in  par- 
ticular, wece  always  kind  and  obliging,  and  seemed  better 
disposed  towards  the  settlers  than  towards  the  North- West 
Company :  they  even  continued  to  hunt  as  usual  for  the 
settlers,  after  the  Canadians  and  Indians  of  the  half-bree^, 
under  the  influence  of  the  North-Wcst  Company,  had  re- 
fused to  do  so.  The  persons  who  took  part  with  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  under  their  influence,  and  at  their  in- 
stigation, became  unfriendly  to  the  settlers,  were  the  said 
Canadians  and  Indians  of  the  half-breed,  who  might  alto- 
gether be  in  number  about  ninety  or  one  hundred.  The  > 
said  Canadians  consist  of  men  from  Lower  Canada,  who 
came  to  the  country  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, and  have  been  discharged,  and  now  live  with  Indian 
women,  and  of  persons  of  the  same  description,  who  are 
still  in  the  service  of  that  Company ;  and  the  said  Indians 
of  the  half-breed  may  be  thirty  or  forty  in  number,  and  are 
the  natural  children  of  persons  in  the  service  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  by  Indian  women ;  and  many  of  them  are 
employed  in  the  same  service. 

That  the  deponent  was  at  Fort  Gibraltar,  when  nine  or 
ten  Indians  of  the  Cree  nation  were  brought  thither  by 
Alexander  M'Doneli,  one  of  the  partners  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  in  May,  or  June  last.  They  were  feasted 
and  kept  drunk  in  the  said  fort  for  several  days,  and  were 
then  sent  to  speak  to  Captain  M'Donell ;  and  two  or  three 
days  after  went  away.  That  while  the  deponent  was  at 
the  said  Fort  Gibraltar,  as  aforesaid,  he,  the  deponent,  saw 
there  in  the  hands  of  the  North- West  Company,  nine  pieces 
of  cannon,  which  had  been  provided  and  used  for  the  de- 
fence of  tl>e  settlement  at  Red  River  and  which  had  been, 
a  few  mouths  before,  stolen  and  carried  away  from  thence, 


^^-HWm^ 


APPENDIX. 


SIX 


and  brought  to  the  said  fort ;  where,  upon  one  occasioni 
the  deponent  saw  two  of  them  used,  and  fired  from. 

(Signed)  HECTOR  M'EACHERN. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  this  5th 
December,  1815,  before  me, 

(Signed)  THOMAS  M'CORD,  J.  P. 


[  M.  ] 

Deposition  of  Hector  MLeod. 

Home  District, )  Hector  M'Leod,  late  of  the  district  of 
York,  to  wit :  \  Ossiniboia,  being  duly  sworn,  saith,  that 
he  was  engaged  along  with  several  others  of  the  settlers  at 
the  Red  River,  in  seizing  upon  and  carrying  away,  and  de- 
livering up  to  the  North-West  Company  sevemi  pieces  of 
cannon,  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  which  had  been 
provided  for  the  defence  of  the  settlement ;  that  he,  th6- 
deponent,  was  induced  to  join  in  this  act,  by  the  assurances 
of  George  Campbell  and  others,  who  represented  that 
Miles  Macdonell,  governor  of  the  said  district  of  Ossini- 
boia, would  use  force  to  prevent  the  settlers  from  going 
away ;  and  that,  unless  the  cannon  were  taken  away  from 
him,  they  would  never  be  able  to  go  away  ;  and  that  if  they 
remained,  the  settlers  would  all  be  murdered  by  the  Indi- 
That  he,  the  deponent,  saw  a  letter,  which  was  read 


ans 


to  him  by  John  Matheson,  or  George  Campbell,  from  Dun- 
can Cameron,  one  of  the  partners  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, ordering  the  settlers  to  take  away  the  cannon  ;  and 
warranting  that  he,  the  said  Duncan  Cameron,  would  in- 
demnify them  from  any  penal  consequences ;  and  he,  the 
deponent,  believes  that  the  said  Duncan  Cameron  had  au- 
thority to  act  as  he  did,  as  he  had  frequently  heard  him 
say,  that  he  was  a  King's  officer ;  and  that  on  the  day  the 
cannon  were  seized  as  aforesaid,  the  said  Duncan  Came- 
ron came,  with  several  of  his  clerks  and  other  persons  in  the 
service  of  the  North-West  ('ompany,  to  meet  the  settlers, 
and  received  the  cannon  from  them,  and  carried  them  away 
to  the  trading  post  of  the  said  North-West  Company  in  the 
neighbourhood,  where  he,  the  deponent,  has  frequently 
seen  the  said  cannon  afterwards  mounted  on  carriages  and 
prepared  for  service. 

That  he,  the  deponent,  had  received  from  Miles  Mac- 
donell, Esq.  a  musket  in  trust,  to  be  used  for  his  own  de- 
fence, and  that  of  the  settlement ;  which  musket,  he,  de< 


*8» 


xx 


APPENDIX. 


i 


I!    I 


ponent,  carried  to  the  said  trading  post  of  the  Nofth-West 
Company,  and  there  delivered  it  to  the  said  Duncan  Ca- 
meron, or  some  person  authorised  by  him ;  and  that  the  said 
musket  was  there  left  by  the  deponent,  and  was  neither 
brought  away  by  him,  nor  restored  to  the  stores  of  the  set- 
tlement. That  he,  the  deponent,  was  for  several  days,  in 
the  month  of  June  last,  at  a  camp  at  Frog  Plain,  along  with 
a  number  of  half-Indians,  Canadians,  and  others,  under  the 
command  of  Alexander  M'Donell,  a  partner  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  by  whom  he  was  frequently  stationed  as  a 
centincl,  to  see  that  no  boat  should  pass  down  the  river 
without  his  permission.  That  during  his  stay  in  this  camp, 
he  knew  that  the  said  half-Indians  had  made  prisoners  of 
several  of  the  settlers  who  were  remaining  peaceably  in 
their  own  houses ;  and  he  saw  them  ride  over  the  cultivated 
ground  belonging  to  several  of  the  said  settlers,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  tread  down  and  destroy  their  crops.  The 
settlers  brought  away,  were  Alexander  Sutherland,  Adam 
Sutherland,  George  Sutherland,  Catherine  Sutherland,  Ca-| 
therine  M'Pherson,  John  Smith,  his  wife,  four  sons,  and 
two  daughters.  The  said  people  were  brought  away  against 
their  wills  ;  that  the  party  who  went  for  them  were  headed 
by  Mr.  M'Lean,  a  clerk  of  the  North-West  Company,  and 
that  some  of  the  party  were  armed  with  loaded  guns.  De- 
ponent heard  said  McLean  tell  the  settlers,  unless  they 
came  away,  the  half-Indians  would  burn  their  houses  about 
them.  Deponent  saw  a  party  go  from  the  North-West  fort ; 
the  party  were  headed  by  Mr.  Grant,  Mr.  Shaw,  of  the 
North- West  Company,  and  Early,  one  of  the  settlers,  for 
the  purpose  of  burning  the  bouses  of  the  settlement.  Depo- 
nent saw  them  set  fire  to  Captain  MacdonelFs  house ;  that 
is.  Miles  Macdonell,  Esq.  governor  of  the  territory.  Two 
big  houses,  the  horse  mill,  and  several  other  houses,  with 
the  store-houses,  were  burnt.— He,  deponent,  saw  the  par- 
ty assist  in  getting  out  the  goods  out  of  the  houses,  before 
they  set  them  on  fire,  and  during  the  time  they  were  burn- 
ing ;  that  the  horses,  hoes,  spades,  and  axes,  were  sold  to 
the  North-West  Company  ;  and  the  settlers  were  paid  for 
them  by  Duncan  Cameron,  who  gave  at  the  rate  of  one  dol- 
lar for  an  axe.  His 

HECTOR  4-  M'LEOD. 
Svf  om  before  me,  at  York,  in  Mark. 

the  Home  District,  Province 

of  Upper  Canada,  the  14th 
,  February,  1816. 

(Signed)  ALEXANDER  WOOD,  J.  P. 


APPENDIX. 


IXl 


[N.  ] 

Deposition  of  George  Sutherland. 

George  Sutherland,  late  settler  at  Red  River,  saitb, 
that  on  or  about  the  4th  day  of  April  last,  he  and  James 
M'Kay,  settler,  received  a  note  by  the  hand  of  John  Ma- 
theson,  Jun.  the  following  of  which  is  a  copy : — 

I  do  hereby  order  James  M^Kay,  and  George  Su- 
therland, to  give  up  their  muskets  in  the  King's  name. 

D.  CAMERON. 
Gibraltar.  V.  C. 

Deponent  would  not  obey  the  order:  Matheson  then 
wanted  to  know  where  his  musket  was,  and  as  deponent 
had  it  concealed,  he  would  not  tell  him.  On  or  about  the 
16th  of  April  last,  a  party  of  the  late  settlers  and  North- 
West  Company's  servants,  consisting  of  about  thirty  men, 
entered  deponent's  house,  took  out  his  musket,  and  gave  it 
to  George  Campbell.  Deponent  asked  it  back  several 
times,  but  could  not  get  it.  George  Campbell  threatened  to 
lash  him  to  one  of  the  sledges,  and  carry  him  a  prisoner  to 
the  North-West  Company's  fort,  and  William  Sutherland 
presented  his  gnu  at  him.  Several  of  the  late  settlers  re- 
peatedly came  to  deponent's  house  with  messages  from  Mr. 
Duncan  Cameron,  that  he  would  still  take  him  with  the  rest 
to  Canada,  if  he  would  go.  On  or  about  the  1 1th  of  June 
last,  deponent,  Adam  Sutherland,  his  brother,  and  Allan 
Smith,  went  up  to  the  Government  House,  and  when  they 
returned  home  they  were  told  by  John  Smith,  that  others 
of  the  settlers  had  been  taken  away  by  tl'  party  of  the 
North-West  Company's  servants,  and  hah  oreeds,  com- 
manded by  Mr.  Lauchlin  M'Lean,  a  clerk  in  the  service  of 
the  North  West  (.'ompany,  to  an  encampment  they  had 
formed  at  Frog  Plain.  When  deponent,  his  brother,  and 
Allan  Smith,  arrived  at  their  house,  they  found  their  bag- 
gage packed  up,  and  some  of  the  North- West  Company's 
servants  and  half-brecdit  soon  afterwards  arrived,  and  forced 
them  to  go  to  the  encampment  at  the  Frog  Plain.  The 
same  party  took  deponent's  trading  gun  and  powder-horn, 
which  were  never  returned.  Deponent  declares,  that  Mr. 
Alexander  M'Donell,  a  partner  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny, who  had  the  command,  went  into  the  tent  where  the 
•ettlers  were,  and  told  them,  as  they  were  countrymen  of 

p  p 


N 


m 

1 

I.  II 


f^fn. 


a«i. 


XXII 


APPENDIX. 


h    f 


his,  he  would  be  candid  with  them  in  telling  them,  that  they 
(viz.  the  North-West  Company,)  were  the  means  of  savin" 
Ihcm  from  the  half-breeds,  as  it  was  quite  uncertain  but  that 
they  would  kill  them  in  the  night  if  they  remained  in  their 
houses.     Deponent  also  saith,  that  Mr.  Alexander  M'Do- 
ncll  sent  Mr.  Lauchlin  M'Lean  for  a  piece  of  paper  to  write 
down  their  names,  and  he  began  at  the  top  with  "  Prisoners 
of  War,"  with  their  names  annexed.     After  this,  deponent 
heard  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell  say  in   English,  to  Mr. 
Lauchlin  M'Lean,  to  tell  the  settlers  in  Gaelic,  that  it  was 
of  no  use  to  conceal  what  their  intentions  were,  that  they 
would  take  them  prisoners  to  Canada  if  they  did  not  con- 
sent to  go  as  the  others  did.  Deponent  answered,  if  he  was 
obliged  to  go,  he  would  rather  go  as  a  prisoner,  as  he  knew 
there  was  nothing  against  him.  Deponent  argued  in  behalf 
of  the  rest,  and  at  last  was  told  by  Mr.  Alexander  M'Do- 
nell, that  "  he  was  a  devil  of  a  brat  of  a  boy,  and,  as  he  was 
young,  what  sense  had  he  more  than  the  rest  ?"   He  then 
gave  deponent  and  the  rest  a  few  minutes  to  make  up  their 
minds  what  to  do.     Deponent  then  called  Allan  Smith  out 
of  the  tent  to  consult  with  him,  but  was  soon  after  told  by 
Mr.  William  Shaw,  that  Mr.  M'Donell  wanted  him.  A  man, 
under  the  name  of  a  constable,  then  clapped  his  hand  oo 
deponenfs  shoulder,  and  Mr.  M'Donell  told  him  that  he 
was  a  prisoner  in  the  King's  name.     Deponent  arguing 
with  Mr.  M'Donell,  was  told  by  him,  if  he  did  not  keep 
quiet,  that  he  would  get  him  stripped,  and  would  make  the 
people  in'the  camp  flog  him.    Deponent  was  then  put  into 
a  separate  tent  from  his  friends.    Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  ar- 
rived at  the  camp  and  inquired  where  deponent  and  the 
rest  of  the  settlers  were.     Deponent  answered  and  went 
out.     He  was  repeatedly  told  by  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  to 
be  silent,  if  not,  that  he  would  be  put  in  irons.  A  few  days 
after  that,  deponent  was  removed  to  a  camp  where  the 
^Jorth-West  Company  had  erected  a  battery  close  to  the 
Government  House  of  Red  River  settlement.     The  camp 
consisted  of  about  sixty  men,  North-West  Company's  ser- 
vants, half-breeds,  and  some  of  the  late  settlers  and  ser- 
vants of  Red  River  settlement,  ail  under  the  command  of 
Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell.     Deponent  heard  Mr.  Lauchlin 
M'Lean,  Donald  M'Kinnon,  and  others,  saying  that  they 
would  have  Captain  Miles  Macdonell  dead  or  alive. 

After  deponent  was  liberated,  he  went  twice  to  the 
North-West  Company's  fort  for  his  trading  gun  and  his  bro- 
ther's. Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell  told  deponent,  he  was 
scich  a  good  lawyer,  that  he  should  not  get  the  guns  till  he 


APPENDII. 


XXIil 


tried  it.  Deponent  called  some  of  the  people  around  him 
as  witness  that  his  private  property  was  taken  'rom  him  by 
force 

GEORGE  SUTHERLAND. 
Sworn  at  Winnipic  Settlement,  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  Territories,  llth  day 
of  August,  1815,  before  me, 

ARCHIBALD  M'DONALD, 

Counsellor. 


j«.    g     S  James  White,  Surgeon. 

^  J.  P.  BOURKE. 


[O.] 

Deposition  of  Patrick  jM^J^olty, 
Patrick  M'Nolty,  late  settler  at  Red  Hiver,  saith,  that 
on  or  about  the  19th  day  of  June  last.  Hector  M^Eachern, 
James  Pinkman,  and  Peter  Dunn,  came  from  the  North- 
West  Company's  fort  at  the  Forks  of  Red  River,  to  depo- 
nent's house,  and  told  him,  that  if  he  did  not  leave  his  house, 
he  and  his  family  would  be  in  danger  of  losing  their  lives, 
and  that  it  was  by  orders  of  Captain  Cameron  they  came  to 
inform  him.  In  consequence  of  these  threats,  deponent,  with 
his  wife  and  children,  left  his  house,  and  slept  in  an  open 
boat  upon  the  river  that  night.  On  the  following  morning 
deponent  went  to  Mr.  Cameron,  to  ask  protection  from  him 
to  proceed  down  the  river,  on  his  way  to  Jack  River,  as  he 
was  afraid  of  being  murdered  by  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron's 
servants,  if  he  attempted  to  go  down  the  river  without  his 
permission.  Mr.  Cameron  told  deponent,  that  he  could  not 

fo  till  the  whole  of  the  colony  went  togetljer,  for  as  he  had 
een  ordered  to  leave  the  country,  he  was  determined  to 
drive  out  all  the  settlers,  and  when  they  were  gone,  he 
would  not  leave  a  stick  of  the  buildings  one  upon  the  other. 
Deponent  was  therefore  forced  to  fly  from  his  house  and 
lands,  and  left  behind  him  one  rood  of  land  prepared  for 
turnip  seed,  produce  of  the  crop  valued  at       .£300 


BufTaloe  wool,  valued  at 

One  feather  bed  and  household  furniture,  ] 

valued  at < 

Land  prepared  for  potatoes,  produce  of  j 

the  crop  valued  at ( 


10  0  0 
2  0  0 


8  0  0 


£23  0  0 


(Signed) 


PATRICK  M'NOLTY. 


mh 


i. 'ft 


KXIT 


APPENDIX. 


Sworn  at  Wirnipic  Settlement,  Hudson'i 
Bay  Company's  Territories,  this  5th 
day  of  August,  1815,  before  nie, 

ARCHIBALD  MACDONALD,  Counsellor. 
Colin  Robertson, 
James  White,  Surgeon. 


Witness 


[  P.  ] 

Deposition  of  Alexander  MLean, 

Mr.  Alexander  M'Lean,  late  settler.  Red  River,  saitfa, 
that  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  told  him,  that  any  of  the  settlers 
who  vi'ould  go  to  Canada,  should  have  from  the  North- West 
Company  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  twelve  months  pro- 
visions gratis,  and  a  free  passage.  Deponent  also  saith, 
that  he  was  told  by  the  said  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron,  that  he 
would  pledge  the  word  of  the  North- West  Company  for  the 
fulfilment,  and  that  he  himself  has,  at  diifercnt  times,  been 
solicited  by  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron,  Mr.  J.  Dugald  Cameron, 
partners  of  the  North- West  Company,  to  leave  Red  River 
settlement,  and  as  an  enticement  for  him  to  do  so,  was  of- 
fered between  seven  and  eight  hundred  pounds  sterling;  be- 
sides they  promised  that  he  should  be  placed  in  an  indepen- 
dent situation.  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron  also  promised  Mr. 
M'Lean  two  hundred  pounds  out  of  his  own  pocket,  and  his 
servants'  wages  to  be  paid  for  three  years.  Mr.  J.  Dugald 
Cameron  told  Mr.  M'Lean  that  ways  and  means  were  taken 
for  the  destruction  of  the  colony  in  less  than  two  years. 
Mr.  M'Lean  also  deposes,  that  on  or  about  Thursday,  the 
22d  day  of  June  last,  a  party  of  half-breeds  entered  his 
house,  and  what  they  said  was  interpreted  to  him  by  S.  Fid- 
ler,  that  he,  with  his  wife  and  family,  must  leave  his  house, 
or  else  it  would  be  set  on  tire  about  their  heads.  The  next 
day,  Mr.  M'Lean  removed  to  the  Government  House  with 
the  greater  part  of  his  property,  and  on  Saturday  following, 
he  had  the  misfortune  to  see  their  threat  accomplished,  by 
his  house  being  burnt  to  the  ground. 

(Signed)  A.  M'LEAN. 

Sworn  at  Winnipic  Settlement,  Hudson's 

Ba    Territuries,  this  5th  day  of  August, 

1815,  before  me, 

ARCHIBALD  MACDONALD,  Counsellor, 

Witness  \  ^®^"'  Robertson, 

(  James  White,  Surgeon.  , 

See  also  Appendix,  [S.^ 


AFPENSIX. 


XXV 


Deposition  o/ Joseph  Kenny, 

Montreal, )      Joseph  Kf.ni;y,  late  of  Red  River,  in  the 
to  toit :    5    territory  of  the  Hudson^s  Bay  Company,  now 
at  the  city  of  Montreal,  in  the  Province  of  Lower  Cfanada, 
labourer,  maketh  oath,  that  he  was  an  indented  servant  in 
the  service  of  Earl  Selkirk,  in  the  colony  at  Red  River 
aforesaid,  during  three  years  preceding  the  month  of  June 
last. — That  while  the  deponent  was  in  the  service  of  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk  aforesaid,  some  time  in  the  month  of  February 
last,  one  James  Smith,  one  of  the  settlers  at  Red  River  afore- 
said, showed  to  the  deponent  a  letter  addressed  to  him  the 
said  James  Smith,  and  which  he  hail  received  from  Duncan 
Cameron,  one  of  the  partners  in  the  North- West  Company, 
in  which  the  said  Duncan  Cameron  proposed  to  the  settlers 
and  servants  of  Earl  Selkirk,  at  Red  River  aforesaid,  to 
abandon  their  situations  there,  and  come  over  to  the  trading 
post  of  the  North- West  Company,  in  the  neigiibourhood, 
called  by  them  Gibraltar,  assuring  the  said  James  Smith, 
that  the  said  settlers  and  servants  would  be  well  treated,  be 
provided  with  a  passage  free  of  expense,  and  be  conveyed 
to  Montreal,  in  Lower  Canada.  That  the  said  James  Smith 
and  others,  in  consequence  of  the  inducements  so  held  out 
to  them  by  the  said  Duncan  Camerpn,  did  abandon  the 
colony  at  Red  River  ..aforesaid,  and  went  over  to  the  said 
North- West  Company,  by  whom  they  were  received  and 
taken  care  of,  and  afterwards  conveyed,  some  of  them  to 
Upper  Canada,  and  others  to  Lower  Canada.     That  the 
deponent  was  among  the  number  of  persons  who  abandoned 
the  said  colony,  and  went  over  to  the  said  North- West 
Company,  as  aforesaid  ;  and  it  was  about  the  fifth  of  June 
last,  that  the  deponent  left  the  said  colony,  and  went  to  the 
said  trading  post  called  Gibraltar.     That  while  the  depo- 
nent was  at  the  said  trading  post,  as  aforesaid,  about  two  or 
three  days  previous  to  the  eleventh  of  June  last,  he  r  oserved 
in  the  store  of  the  said  North-W^st  Company  at  the  said 
trading  post,  a  number  of  guns,  with  powder-horns  and 
shot-bags,  prepared  and  in  order  to  be  used,  some  of  the 
guns  being  loaded,  and  the  whole  fit  for  immediate  action. 
That,  on  the  eleventh  of  June  last,  a  party  of  half-Indians 
and  Canadians,  with  some  clerks  in  the  service  of  the  said 
North- West  Company,  were  provided  with  the  said  guns, 
powder-horns,  and  shot-bags,  prepared  as  aforesaid,  which 
they  received  out  of  the  said  store,  and  sallied  forth  from 
the  said  trading  post,  and  made  an  attack  on  the  settlements 
at  Red  River  aforesaid,  and  kept  up  a  continued  fire  on  the 


i 


;*: 


Mm 

m 

m 


} 


rXVi 


APPtNOIX. 


V 


i 


M 


said  settlement  for  at  least  haif  an  hour ;  during  which,  le- 
veral  persons  of  the  said  settlement  were  wounded.  That, 
among  the  persons  who  so  sallied  forth,  were  one  Seraphim, 
a  Canadian,  a  clerk  in  the  service  of  the  said  North- West 
Company,  one  Grant,  and  one  Shaw,  Indians  of  the  half- 
breed.  Clerks  in  the  service  of  tljtt  said  North-West  Com- 
pany, and  one  Bostonois,  also  a  half-Indian,  and  an  inter- 
preter, in  the  service  of  the  said  North-West  Company. 
That,  after  the  said  firing  ceased,  the  said  party,  with  the 
said  clerks  at  their  head,  returned  shouting,  and  manifest- 
ing their  exultation  at  what  had  taken  place,  to  the  said 
trading  post,  where  they  were  received  by  the  said  Duncan 
Cameron,  who  had  the  command  and  charge  of  the  said 
trading  post,  and  who  shook  several  of  them  by  the  hands, 
and  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  their  conduct. — That  the 
deponent  left  the  said  trading  post  two  or  three  days  after- 
wards, and  was  convened  by  the  North-West  Company  in 
their  canoes,  to  the  said  city  of  Montreal,  where  he  arrived 
on  the  nineteenth  day  of  the  present  month  of  October.—- 1 
That,  in  coming  down,  the  deponent  saw  one  Joseph  Belle- 
grade,  a  Canadian,  and  others  of  the  persons  employed 
in  making  the  said  attack  on  the  settlement  at  Red  River, 
who  were  then  at  a  trading  post  of  the  said  North  West 
Company,  called  Fort  William  ;  and  the  deponent  was  told 
by  the  said  Bellepade,  that  he  and  the  said  other  persons 
were  much  dissatisfied  with  the  said  North-West  Company, 
for  not  having  fulfilled  their  promises  to  them,  by  which  they 
had  been  induced  to  make  the  said  attack  on  the  said  set- 
tlement, ard  afterwards  to  burn  and  destroy  it  altogether ; 
the  said  Bellegrade  mentioning  at  the  same  time,  that  what 
they  had  so  done,  had  been  done  at  the  desire,  and  by  the 
instigation  of  the  said  North-West  Company 

(Signed)  JOSEPH  KENNY. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  the  21st 
October,  1815,  before  me, 

ELM.  St.  DIZIER,  J.  P. 


Deposition  of  Donald  MKinnon. 
Montreal, )  Donald  M'Kinnon,  late  of  the  colony  of 
to  wit :  I  Red  River,  in  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  in  North  America,  now  at  the  city  of 
Montreal,  in  the  Province  of  Lower  Canada,  labourer, 
maketh  oath,  and  saitb,  that  he  emigrated  from  Scotland 


■■■.yj;' 


APPRNDIX. 


XIVIl 


in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twelve,  to  reside  in  the  said  colony  '  the  capacity  of  an 
indented  servant,  and  arrived  in  the  said  colony  in  the  same 
year,  and  remained  there  till  the  month  of  March  last.  That 
in  or  about  the  latter  end  of  last  March,  one  George 
Campbell,  a  settler  in  the  said  colony,  proposed  to  the  de- 
ponent to  join  him,  the  said  George  Campbell  and  others, 
in  seizing  nine  pieces  of  cannon,  which  had  been  provided 
for  the  defence  of  the  colony,  and  were  then  lodged  in  one 
of  the  buildings  of  Karl  Selkirk,  there ;  and  in  conveying 
iiem  away  to  a  trading  post  of  the  North-West  Company, 
n  the  neighbourhood  of  the  colony,  called  Fort  Gibraltar ; 
the  said  George  Campbell  at  the  same  time  informing  the 
deponent,  that  he  had  orders  from  Dirncan  Cameron,  one 
of  the  partners  of  the  said  North-West  Company,  to  seize 
and  convey  away  the  said  cannon  aforesaid.  That  the  de- 
ponent, at  the  solicitation  of  the  said  George  Campbell,  as 
aforesaid,  did  join  him  in  seizing  and  conveying  the  said 
cannon,  as  aforesaid  ;  and  the  said  George  Campbell,  aided 
by  the  deponent,  one  George  Bannerman,  and  other  set- 
tlers of  the  said  colony,  did,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  said 
month  of  March  last,  seize  the  said  nine  pieces  of  cannon, 
placed  them  on  sleighs,  and  conveyed  them  to  the  said  Fort 
Gibraltar,  where  they  met  with  the  said  Duncan  Cameron, 
and  two  of  his  clerks,  one  Shaw  and  one  Bostonois,  opened 
the  store  of  the  said  fort,  and  caused  the  said  nine  pieces  of 
cannon  to  be  lodged  therein.  That  the  deponent,  in  com- 
pany with  his  father  and  his  family,  left  Red  River  afore- 
said, in  June  last,  in  the  canoes  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, and  was  conveyed  by  them  to  Fort  WilUam,  one  of 
the  trading  posts,  where  the  deponent  was  compelled  by 
the  said  North-West  Company,  and  in  particular  by  Ken- 
neth M'Kenzie,  one  of  the  partners  of  the  said  North- West 
Company,  to  separate  himself  from  his  father  and  family, 
and  was  brought  down  against  his  will  to  the  said  city  of 
Montreal. 

(Signed)  DONALD  M'KINNON. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  this  13th  day  of 
December,  1815,  before  flue, 
(Signed)  J.  M.  MONDELET,  J.  P. 


[  S.  ] 
Deposition  of  Michael  McDonnell, 

Michael  M'Donnell,  late  of  the  colony  of 

Red  River,  in  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's 

Bay  Company,  now  at  the  city  of  Montreal,  in  the  Province 


Montreal, 
to  wit 


'] 


I 


XXVIIl 


APPBNDIX. 


'  ( 


of  Lower  Canada,  makcth  oath,  that  he  is  acquainted  with 
one  George  Campbell,  one  o[  the  colonists  who  emigrated 
from  Scotland  to  settle  in  the  said  colony  of  Red  River.-~ 
That  the  said  Georgo  Campbell  came  to  the  said  colony  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  four> 
teen,  having  arrived  at  one  of  the  posts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  on  the  sea  coast,  in  the  summer  of  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirteen,  and  re- 
mained there  till  the  ensuing  spring. — That,  in  the  winter 
of  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifteen,  the  said 
George  Campbell  abandoned  the  said  colony,  and  went 
over  to  the  trading  post  of  the  North- West  Company,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  said  colony.  That  the  said  George 
Campbell,  when  he  abandoned  the  said  colony  as  aforesaid, 
headed  a  party  of  the  settlers  of  the  said  colony,  who  went 
off  with  him ;  and  he  and  the  said  party  of  settlers  feloni- 
ously stole  and  carried  away  with  them,  from  the  said  colo- 
ny, nine  pieces  of  cannon,  which  had  been  provided  for  the 
defence  of  the  colony,  and  were  placed  in  one  of  the  build-' 
ings  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  there,  and  which  they 
conveyed  to  the  said  trading  post  of  the  North- West  Com- 

Eany,  called  Fort  Gibraltar,  where  they  were  received  by 
)uncan  Cameron,  one  of  the  partners  in  the  said  North- 
West  Company,  who  letained  the  same. — That  the  said 
George  Campbell,  in  speaking  to  the  deponent  of  the  said 
transaction,  told  him  that  he  had  so  taken  the  said  cannon 
by  the  desire  of  the  said  Duncan  Cameron,  and  that  he  was 
not  afraid  of  consequences  for  having  done  so,  as  he  bad  a 
written  order  from  the  said  Cameron  to  justify  him. 

That  the  said  George  Campbell,  afterwards,  in  the  month 
of  June  last,  assisted  in  the  attack  which  was  made  by  an 
armed  force,  proceeding  from  the  said  Fort  Gibraltar,  on 
the  settlement  at  Red  River  aforesaid,  and,  as  this  deponent 
believes,  in  the  destruction  of  the  said  colony  at  Red  River, 
which  afterwards  took  place.  That  after  the  said  colony 
had  been  destroyed,  the  said  George  Campbell  was  brought, 
with  the  greatest  part  of  the  settlers  of  the  colony,  by  the 
North- West  Company,  to  Upper  Canada,  and  the  depo- 
nent travelled  in  company  with  the  said  Campbell  as  far  as 
a  trading  post  of  the  said  North- West  Company,  called  Fort 
William. — That  while  the  deponent  was  in  continement  at 
Fort  William  aforesaid,  under  an  illegal  arrest  to  which  he 
had  been  subjected  by  the  procurement  of  the  said  North- 
West  Company,  the  said  George  Campbell  came  to  him, 
and  in  conversation  mentioned  that  he  had  received  one 
hundred  pounds  from  the  said  North-West  Company, 
which  the  deponent  understood  to  be  a  reward  for  the  part 


APPENDIX. 


XSIl 


which  the  said  Campbell  had  taken  in  conveying  away  the 
cannon,  and  in  the  attack  on,  and  destruction  of,  the  colony 
at  Red  River  aforesaid.  That  the  said  Campbell  aUo  told 
the  deponent  that  he  expected  to  get  an  advantageouH  situ- 
ation at  St.  Joseph's,  in  consequence  of  the  recommenda- 
tion, and  by  the  influence  of,  the  North- West  Company. 
That  while  the  deponent  was  in  custody  as  a  prisoner  at 
Fort  Gibraltar  as  aforesaid,  in  June  last,  Dugald  Cameron, 
one  of  the  partners  in  the  said  North- West  Company,  told 
the  deponent,  in  the  course  of  conversation,  that  the  said 
North- West  Company  had  offered  Alexander  M'Lcan,  the 
principal  settler  in  the  said  colony,  as  much  as  four  hundred 
pounds  if  he  would  abandon  the  said  colony,  and  come  over 
to  the  North-West  Company.  That  while  the  deponent 
was  in  custody  at  Gibraltar,  as  aforesaid,  he  represented  tu 
Alexander  M'Donell,  one  of  the  partners  in  the  North-West 
Company,  then  having  charge  of  the  said  fort,  his  anxiouH 
wish  to  be  sent  forward  to  the  place  where  his  trial  was  to 
be  had,  to  which  the  said  Alexander  M'Donell  answered, 
that  the  deponent  was  to  go  with  him,  and  that  he  could 
not  set  out  till  he  had  seen  all  the  colonists  off  the  ground, 
and  on  their  way  to  their  future  destination. 

Signed)  MICHAEL  M'DONELL. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  this  28th  day  of 
November,  1815,  before  me, 

(Signed)  J.  M.  MONDELET,  J.  P. 


[T.  ] 

Deposition  of  James  Flynn, 

Montreal, )  James  Flynn,  late  of  the  colony  of  Red 
to  wit :  5  River,  in  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  now  at  the  city  of  Montreal,  in  the  Province  of 
Lower  Canada,  labourer,  maketh  oath,  that  on  his  way  down 
from  Red  River  aforesaid,  to  Montreal,  in  the  month  of 
June  last,  he,  the  deponent,  heard  Duncan  Cameron,  one  of 
the  partners  in  the  North-West  Company,  who  was  then  at 
the  River  Winipeg,  mention,  in  speaking  of  the  destruction 
of  the  colony  at  the  Red  River  aforesaid,  which  had  recently 
before  taken  place,  that  he  had  left  a  person  behind  him  at 
Red  River  aforesaid,  who  would  finish  the  business,  mean- 
ing the  destruction  of  the  said  colony.  That  the  deponent 
also  heard  a  conversation  at  the  River  Winipeg  aforesaid, 
between  John  M'Donell  and  Alexander  M'Kenzic.  both 


i 


•tJMoil 


'in 


APPENDIX. 


partnera  in  the  said  North- West  Company,  in  which  the 
•aid  John  M'Donell  observed,  that  if  the  ^ 'trth-West  Com- 
pany had  not  miccceded  in  enticing  awajr  frcti  the  colony 
of  Ked  River  the  Irishmen,  (meaning  the  Irish  servants  in 
the  service  of  Earl  Selkirk  there,)  they  would  have  been 
unable  to  eflfect  what  they  had  done ;  whereupon  the  said 
Alexander  M'Kenzie,  seeing  the  deponent  in  the  room,  said 
to  the  Raid  John  M'Doneli,  by  way  of  putting  a  stop  to  the 
conversation,  there  is  Captain  MacdonelPs  servant,  (mean- 
ing the  deponent,)  which  induced  the  deponent  to  retire. 
That  the  deponent  was  also  present  at  Fort  William,  in  July 
last,  when  tne  said  Duncan  Cameron,  in  speaking  to  others 
of  the  partners  of  the  said  Company,  of  the  destruction  of 
the  settlement  at  Red  River  aforesaid,  said,  "  1  have  done 
so  much,  it  ia  for  you  to  do  the  rest." 

(Signed)  JAMES  FLYNN. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  this  20th  day  of 

September,  1815,  before  me,  i 

(Signed)        THOMAS  M'CORD,  J.  P.  ' 


If' 


[  U.  ] 

Dmmmond's  Island,  {Upper  Canada,) 
'i'idJuly,   1816. 

From  the  Minutes  of  a  Council,  held  this  day,  between 
Kawtawabetay,  a  Chippcway  chief  of  Sand  Lake,  and  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel M'Kay,  Superintendaut  of  Indian  Aflairs. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Maule  of  the  104th  Regiment, 

Commanding,  and  President. 
The  Right  Hon.  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk. 
Allan,  Surgeon. 

Delorihier,  Captain,  Indian  Department. 
,4  Paul  La  Croix,  Merchant. 

"Lieutenant-Colonel  Wm.  M'Kav,  Superintendant. 
Thomas  G.  Anderson,  Captain. 
Michel  Brisbois. 
David  Mitchell,  Surgeon. 
•^  John  Askin,  St.  Kr.  Int.  &l  CI. 
William  Solomon, 
Joseph  St.  Germain, 
Asse  Renack,  Ottawa  Chief, 
Desonier, 


s 
S 

a 


J! 


frUerpretert, 


APPENDIX. 


IXII 


EXTRACT. 

St.  Germain,  the  interpreter,  was  directed  by  the  sapcr* 
intendatit  to  aalc  the  Chippewa  chief  if  he  hud  any  thing 
further  to  say,  on  which  the  chief  said,  Yes,  and  said. 

That  in  the  aprin^  of  1815,  whilst  at  Sand  Lake,  -. 

M^Kenzie  and  Morrioon  told  him,  Kawta^v  auctay,  that  they 
would  give  him,  and  his  people,  all  the  soods,  or  merchan* 
disc,  and  rum,  that  they  had,  at  Fort  William,  Leach  Lake, 
and  at  Sand  Lake,  if  he,  the  said  Kawtawabetay,  and  his 
people,  would  make  and  declare  war  against  the  settlers  on 
the  Red  River,  on  which  he,  Kawtawabetay,  asked  ■ 

M'Kenzie  and  Morrison  if  that  demand  to  make  war  against 
the  settlers  at  the  Red  River  was  by  the  orders  of  the  great 
chiefs  at  Quebec,  Montreal,  by  the  commanding  officers  at 
Drummond's  Island,  or  St.  Joseph's,  or  from  his  friend 
Askin.  The  answer  from  M^Kenzie  and  Morrison  was,  that 
the  request  or  proposal  came  from  the  agents  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  not  from  any  military  order,  but  sole- 
ly  from  the  North-West  Company's  agents,  who  wished 
the  settlement  destroyed,  as  it  was  an  annoyance  to  them  ; 
on  which  he,  Kawtawabetay,  said,  he  nor  hi»  people  would 
not  comply  to  their  request  or  proposals,  before  he,  the  said 
chief,  went  to  St.  Joseph's  and  had  seen  Askin ;  after  his 
return,  would  govern  himself  according  to  the  advice  he 
would  get  at  St.  Joseph's. 

Kawtawabetay  further  said,  that  the  last  spring,  1816, 

whilst  at  the  Fond  du  Lac  Superior, Grant,  one  of 

the  North-Weat  Company,  ottered  him,  the  said  chief,  two 
kegs  of  rum  and  two  carrots  tobacco,  if  he  would  send  some 
of  his  young  men  in  search  of  seme  persons  employed  in 
taking  despatches  to  the  Red  River,  and  to  pillage  the  said 
bearers  of  despatches  of  the  letters  and  papers,  and  to  kill 
them,  should  they  make  any  resistance.  That  he,  the  said 
chief,  refused  the  reward,  and  did  not  pay  any  further  at- 
tention to  their  request.  That  a  short  time  after  the  afore- 
mentioned conversation  had  taken  place  between  Gi'ant  and 
himself,  one  named  Laguintoniere,  was  brought  in  prisoner 
by  some  Ottawa  Indians,  and  a  negro,  which  had  been  em- 
ployed after  his  refusing  to  act  or  employ  his  people. 

Kawtawabetay  further  states,  that Grant  aforesaid 

told  him  not  to  be  surprised  to  bear  that  whilst  he,  the  said 
chief,  would  be  absent,  if  he  took  the  said  chief's  son  and 
ten  of  his  young  men  to  the  Red  River,  for  he,  the  said 
Grant,  intended  to  ^o  to  the  said  river,  with  twelve  of  the 


XXXII 


APPENDIX. 


'IB'' 

m 

InK^ 

w 

k 

^m 

wHi  - 

J4* 

■Ki^ 

'  If 

MM 

11' 


Rain  Lake  Indians,  and  his  people,  for  the  purpose  of  iight- 
iaig  the  settlers  at  the  Red  Kiver ;  that  he  did  not  intend 
to  call  in  the  Indians  to  his  aid  to  light  the  settlers,  for  he, 
Grant,  and  his  party,  would  be  strong  enough  to  drive  away 
the  settlers,  but  wanted  the  Indians  merely  as  spectators. 

Question  from  the  Right  Honourable  Thomas  Earl  of 
Selkirk,  to  Kawtawabetay,  by  permission  of  the  President 
and  Superintendant  of  Indian  Affairs  : 

Question. — Are  the  Indians  about  the  Red  River,  or  that 
part  of  the  country  you  came  from,  pleased  or  displeased 
at  the  people  settling  at  the  Red  River  ? 

Answer. — At  the  commencement  of  the  settlement  at  Red 
River,  some  of  the  Indians  did  not  like  it,  but  at  present 
they  are  all  glad  of  its  being  settled. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  M'Kay  told  Kawtawabetay  that  he 
was  happy  to  find  that  he  had  not  taken  the  advice  of  those 
who  wanted  to  lead  him  astray,  but  was  glad  that  he  had 
behaved  himself  as  an  obedient  child  in  refui>ing  to  take  any 
part  with  them,  and  hoped  he  and  his  people  would  con- 
tinue in  being  friendly  with  all  the  English  Merchants, 
traders,  and  ail  the  settlers,  who  were  all  his  Great  Father's 
white  children. 

j1  true  Extract,  JOHN  ASKIN,  J.  P. 


■     [V.]    . '■-^^  :..,.:...4.L.r 

Deposition  of  P.  C.  Pambrun, 

Before  me,  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's 
justices,  assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district 
of  Upper  Canada,  appeared,  Pierre  Chrisologue  Pambrun, 
who,  being  duly  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  deposes, 
that  in  the  month  of  April  last,  he  was  sent  to  the  trading 
post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  at  Qui  Appelle,  by 
order  of  the  deceased  Governor  Semple,  from  whom  the 
deponent  received  a  letter  of  instructions,  a  copy  of  which 
he  has  attested  as  relation  hereto.*  That  when  he  arrived, 
he  found  that,  at  the  fort  or  trading  post  of  the  North- West 
Company,  near  the  same  place,  were  assembled,  a  great 
number  of  the  men,  commonly  called  Bruits,  Metifs,  or 
half-breeds,  viz,  the  bastard  sons  of  Indian  concubines,  kept 


*  A  copy  of  these  lastractious  has  not  be«n  received  with  this  Deposition. 


,   ■,  »r-'-  »^,  i  ■«,"  %  #•»■?:»%!■ 


APPENDIX. 


XXXlll 


by  the  partners  or  servants  of  the  North-  West  Company  ; 
that  these  people  had  been  collected  from  a  great  di8tance> 
some  of  them  having  come  from  Cumberland  House,  and 
others  from  the  upper  Saskatchwan,  or  Fort  des  Prairies, 
that  they  uttered  violent  threats  against  the  colonists  on  the 
Red  River,  in  which  the  deponent  understood  them  to  be 
encouraged  by  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell,then  commanding 
for  the  North- West  Company. — That  in  the  beginning  of 
May,  Mr.  George  Sutherland,  commanding  the  Hudson's 
Bay  po3t,  embarked  with  the  deponent  and  twenty-two 
men,  in  h<G  boats,  loaded  with  twenty-two packsof  furs,  and 
about  six  hundred  bags  of  pemican. — That  as  they  were 
going  down  the  river,  on  or  about  the  1 2th  day  of  May, 
they  were  attacked  by  a  party  of  forty-nine  servants  of  the 
North-West  Company,  composed  partly  of  Canadians,  and 
partly  of  half-breeds,  under  the  command  of  Cuthbert 
Grant,  Thomas  M'Kay,  Roderick  M'Kenzie,  and   Peter 
Pangman  Bostonois,  clerks  or  interpreters  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  Brisbois,  a  guide  in  their  service,  by 
whom  they  were  attacked  with  force  of  arms,  and  taken 
prisoners,  and  brought  to  the  fort  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, when  the  deponent  saw  Mr.  Alexander  M'Donell, 
who  avowed  that  it   was  by  his  order  that  the  said  Grant 
and  others  had  taken  them  prisoners,  and  seized  on  the 
provisions  and  other  property  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, pretending  that  the  measure  was  justifiable,  in  retali- 
ation ror  Mr.  Robertson's  having  lately  taken  the  North- 
West  Company's  fort  at  the  Forks  of  Red  River,  and  de- 
claring' that  it  was  his  intention  to  starve  the  colonists  and 
servan>.«  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  till  he  should  make 
them  surrender. — That  after  having  retained,  for  five  days, 
the  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  taken  prison- 
ers as  aforesaid,  the  said  Alexander  M'Donell  liberated 
them,  after  having  made  them  promise  not  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  North-West  Company,  but  the  deponent  was 
still  kept  in  close  confinement.     That  towards  the  end  of 
May,  the  said  Alexander  M'Donell  embarked  in  his  boats 
and  proceeded  down  the  rjver,  escorted  by  a  party  of  half- 
breeds  on  horseback,  who  foPowed  them  by  land,  and  that 
he  carried  with  him  the  provisions  and  furs  which  his  peo- 
ple had  taken  on  th^  1 2t'h.     That  the  deponent  was  made 
to  embark  in  '^r.e  of  the  boats,  and  as  they  were  coming 
down  tbc  river,  he  was  told  by  several  of  ihe  servants 
of  t,ie  North-West  Company,  that  Alexander  M'Donell 
had  said    the    business    of   last  year    was    a    trifle    in 
comparison    with  that  which  would  take  place  this  year 


i 


'  I-  M 


r1 


s 


•«*...  -..^•■^^►W!»~~'*i«SJi()«^ 


M 


XXXIV 


APPENDIX. 


■  1  ■  •  ; 


1 
i 

j 


-  it    ..    , 


an^  that  the  North-West  Company  and  the  half-breeds 
were  now  one  and  the  same.  That,  at  the  Forks  of  Ossi- 
niboyne  River,  they  met  a  Sautoux  chief  with  his  band, 
to  whom  the  said  Mr.  M'Donell  made  a  speech,  the  pur- 

Eort  of  which  was,  that  the  English  (meaning  the  settlers  on 
Led  River,  and  the  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company) 
were  spoiling  the  lands  which  belonged  to  the  Indians  and 
half-breeds  only ;  that  they  were  driving  away  the  buflaloe, 
and  would  render  the  Indians  poor  and  miserable,  but  that 
the  North-West  Company  would  drive  them  away,  since  the 
Indians  did  not  choose  to  do  it ;  that  if  the  settlers  resisted, 
the  ground  should  be  drenched  with  their  blood  ;  ihat  none 
should  be  spared  ;  that  he  did  not  need  the  assistance  of 
the  Indians,  but  nevertheless,  he  would  be  glad  if  some  of 
their  young  men  would  join  him. — That  when  the  party 
came  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's 
fort  at  Brandon  House,  the  said  C'uthbert  Crant  was  sent 
with  a  party  of  about  twenty-live  men,  who  took  the  post 
and  pillaged  it  of  every  thing,  including  not  only  the  goods^ 
provisions,  and  furs,  belonging  to  the  Company,  but  ats» 
tlie  private  property  of  their  servants,  which  the  deponent 
saw  distributed  among  the  servants  of  the  North-West 
Company,  Canadians  as  well  as  half  breeds. — That  after 
this,  the  s-aid  M^Doneil  divided  his  forces  into  brigades,  and 
Cuthbert  Grant,  Lacerpe,  Alexander  Fraser,  and  Antoinc 
Hoole,  were  appointed  to  command  different  brigades,  and 
that  Seraphim  Lamar  acted  as  lieutenant  over  the  whole, 
under  the  said  M'Donell ;  that  the  whole  force  amounted 
to  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  among  whom  there 
were  six  Indians. — That  on  arriving  at  Portage  des  Prairies, 
the  pemican  was  landed,  and  arranged  so  as  to  form  a  small 
fort,  guarded  by  two  brass  swivels,  which  had  been  taken 
last  year  from  the  stores  of  the  settlement.  That  on  or  about 
the  1 8th  of  June,  two  days  after  their  arrival  at  Portage  des 
Prairies,  the  said  Grant,  Lacerpe,  Fraser,  and  Hoole,  and 
Thomas  M'Kay,  were  sent  with  aboutseventy  men  to  attack 
the  colony,  and  the  said  M'Donell,  with  several  of  his  offi- 
cers, and  about  forty  men,  remained  with  the  pemican. 
That  in  the  evening  of  the  20lh  June,  a  messenger  arrived 
from  Cuthbert  Grant,  who  reported  that  they  had  killed 
Governor  Semple,  with  five  of  his  officers  and  sixteen  of  his 
men,  on  which  the  said  M'Donell,  and  all  the  gentlemen 
with  him,  (particularly  Seraphim  Lamar,  Allan  M'Donell, 
and  Scivwright,)  shouted  with  joy. — That  Alexander  M'Do- 
nell then  wuat  to  announce  the  news  to  the  rest  of  his  peo- 
ple, crying  out,  "Sacriiuom  deDieu!  bonnes  n'>uvelle^ 


APPENDIX. 


IZXT 


;  geittlemen 


"  vingt-deux  Anglois  de  tu^s." — That  Bostonoi^  then  in- 
«]uired  whether  any  of  the  half-breeds  had  been  killed,  and 
on  being  told  of  one,  he  said  the  deceased  was  his  cousin, 
and  his  death  must  be  revenged ;  that  the  afi&ir  must  not  end 
there,  that  the  settlers  must  all  be  killed,  and  not  one  be 
allowed  to  leave  the  river,  for  as  long  as  one  of  those  dogs 
was  alive,  they  would  be  coming  back.  That  on  this  the 
said  Alexander  M'Donell  sent  two  messengers  with  orders 
to  Grant  to  detain  the  settlers  till  his  arrival.  That  on  de- 
ponent's arrival  at  Fort  Douglas,  all  the  settlers  were  away, 
and  the  place  in  possession  of  the  half-breeds  under  Grant. 
That  two  days  afterwards  Mr.  Archibald  Norman  M'Leod 
and  Alexander  M'Kenzie  arrived,  as  agents  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  also  James  Lettb,  John  M'Donell, 
Hugh  M'Gillis,  John  M'Laughlin,  Simon  Eraser,  Archibald 
M'Lellan,  John  Duncan  Campbell,  John  Haldane,  James 
Hughes,  Thomas  M'Murrie,  with  the  said  Alexander  M*Do- 
nell,  all  these  partners,  and  also  Allan  M^Donell,  then  a 
clerk  and  now  a  partner  of  the  North-West  Company ;  that 
these  i.  -^^!°n[ien  held  a  council  with  the  half-breeds  who 
had  b  '  r-^aged  in  the  massacre  of  Governor  Semple  and 
the  sfv'h  ,  ^nade  presents  to  them,  and  made  a  speech  to 
them,  at  which  deponent  was  not  allowed  to  be  present. 
That  when  deponent  was  cunung  away  from  this  place,  the 
said  Alexander  M^Donell  lent  to  him  a  pair  of  pistols  which 
had  belonged  to  Governor  Semple.  That  deponent  also 
saw,  in  possession  of  the  said  Allan  M'Donell,  a  double-bar- 
relled fowling  piece,  likewise  the  property  of  Governor 
Semple,  and  was  informed  that  it  had  been  bought  from 
Coutanaha,  one  of  the  half-breeds  who  had  been  engaged 
in  the  massacre. — That  since  the  deponent  has  been  at 
Fort  William,  he  has  seen  here  many  Canadians  and  half- 
breeds  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  massacre,  and  also  in 
the  robberies  at  Qui  Appelle  and  Brandon  House.  That 
these  men  have  been  favourably  received,  entertained,  and 
protected  by  the  partners  of  the  North-West  Company, 
now  at  Fort  William.  That  the  said  Brisbois,  in  particular, 
has  dined  daily  at  the  table  of  the  partners,  and  the  depo- 
nent has  reason  to  believe  that  all  the  partners  who  are 
now  at  Fort  William,  or  have  been  here  since  the  depo- 
nent's arrival,  looked  upon  the  crimes  which  had  been 
committed  on  Red  River  by  the  half-breeds  and  others 
under  the  command  of  Alexander  M'Donell,  as  services 
done  to  the  North-West  Company,  and  have  rewarded 
them  accordingly ; — that  each  of  the  Canadians  and  half- 
breeds  who  was  engaged  in  the  massacre^  received  a  pre- 


..* 


I 


IXXVl 


APPENDIX. 


sent  of  clothing ;  and  that  some  who  had  not  been  supplied 
at  the  Forks  of  Red  River,  received  articles  of  the  same 
description,  and  to  the  same  amount  at  Fort  William ;  and 
the  deponent  has  been  informed  by  these  men,  that  the  said 
presents  or  equipment  was  an  extraordinary  allowance 
given  only  to  the  men  who  were  engaged  in  that  action. 
(Signed) 

PIERRE  CHRISOLOGUE  PAMBRUN. 
Sworn  before  me,  at  Fort  William,  on 
the  16t)j  CvLY  of  August,  1816, 

(Sit;ned)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


M 


'ik  m 

1 '  ^ «' 

Wuln 

»„jV 

iZ%%m 

fev  rir   ' 

l?H 

It 

[W.  ] 

Deposition  of  A.  Lavigtu* 

Before  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's  jus^ 
ticss  assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district  of  IJf^ 
per  Canada,  and  likewise  in  the  Indian  territories  or  parts  of 
America,  appeared  Aug^stin  Lavigne,  who,  being  duly  sworn 
on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  made  the  following  declaration. 

Qu'il  ^toit  an  Fort  de  la  Riviere  a  la  Souris  le  r>rintemps  pas- 
s^,  quand  Monsieur  Alexander  M-Donell  est  descendu  de  la 
Riviere  Qu'Appelle  avec  une  quantity  de  Bruits  ;  qu'il  s'est 
embarque  dans  un  des  bateaux,  et  descendit  jusqu'au  Portage 
de  la  Prairie,  ou  il  d^barqua  par  ordre  du  dit  Monsieur  M'Do- 
nell,  et  fut  plac^  dans  la  compagnie  de  Grant,  un  des  comnus  de 
la  Soci^td  du  Nord-Ouest,  avec  lequel  il  s'est  rendu  a  cheval  a 
la  Fourche  de  la  Riviere  Rouge  aux  environs  du  Fort  Anglois 
occupe  par  le  Gouvemeur  de  la  Baye  de  Hudson.  Qjue  dans 
I'apres-midi  du  19  Juin  les  trois  compagnies  qui  ^toient  partis 
ensemble  du  Portage  de  la  Prairie,  s'approcherent  de  la  Gre- 
nouilliere,  aux  environs  de  laquelle  plusirurs  habitants  cultiva- 
teurs  ^toient  campus,  a  la  distance  d'environ  deux  lieux  du  Fott 
Anglois  ;  qu'ulorii  le  dit  Lavigne  s'est  s^par^  de  la  basde  aveC 
deux  de  ses  camarades  pour  aller  visiter  un  habitant  qu'il  con- 
noissoit,  qu'ile  rencontrercnt  deux  jeunes  gens  avec  lesquels  ils 
entrerent  en  conversation  ;  et  qu'ensuite  ils  ont  rejoint  une 
bande  de  Bruits,  qui  lea  ont  accuse  de  Iachet4  pour  ne  pas 
avoir  prit  prisonniers  ces  deux  Anglois,  en  se  vantant  qu'ils 
avoient  eux-memes  pris  six.  Que  ces  Bruits  alloient  se  inet- 
tre  a  la  poursuite  de  ces  deux  Anglois,  quand  on  a  vu  opproch- 
cr  la  compagnie  du  Gouvemeur  Semple  ;  que  les  BruUs  ont 


APPENDIX, 


Yxxvii 


rejoint  Icur  bandc  ;  que  In  deposant  Lavigne  all:i  chercher  son 
oheval  qti'il  avait  ^ais.sd  en  arriere  ;  que  reveqant  a  cheval,  i} 
entendit  les  cris,  et  les  coups  de  fusil:) ;  niais,  avant  son  arri- 
ve, Taffaire  etoit  finje,  et  qu'il  ne  restoit  que  les  Brules  sur  la 
place,  qui  tiroit  encore  sur  les  blesses,  qui  ne  faisoienl  pas  dc 
resistance.  Le  deposant  ajoute  qu'il  vit  Monsieur  Pritchard, 
et  un  autre  Anglois,  qui  avoient  jett^s  leurs  ariqcs,  demandant 
grace.  Que  le  deposant  avec  beuucoup  de  peine  reussit  a  sau- 
ver  Monsieur  Pritchard,  et  qu'en  le  protegeant  il  a  re^u  beau-^ 
coups  de  coups  dc  crosse  du  fusil,  et  que  le  deposant  vit  quo 
I'autre  Anglois  fut  tue  par  un  des  Brnlt^s  par  un  coup  de  feu. 
Que  peu  de  jours  apres  cette  afiiiire  eut  lieu,  arriv^rent  Mes- 
sieurs M'Leod  et  M'Kenzie,  agents  de  la  Society  du  Nord-Ouest, 
accoinpagnes  de  plusieurs  autrcs  bourgeois  et  commis  ;  qu'ils 
distribuerent  aux  Brules  des  habillements  qui  avoient  ^t^  apr 
port^s  dans  le  canut  du  dit  M'Leod.  Que  Monsieur  M'Leod 
rassembla  tous  les  Brulds  qui  avoient  £t6  dans  raQ'aiie  du  dix- 
peuviemc,  et  Icur  addressa  le  discours  suivant : 
s  •'  Mes  parens,  mes  pareilles,  qui  nous  ont  soula^^  dans  le  be- 
soin — J'ai  apportd  de  quoi  vous  habiller.  Je  croyois  trouver 
une  quariintaine  de  vous  autres  ici  avec  Monsieur  M'DoneH, 
iKis  vou!)  etes  plus.  J'ai  quarnnte  habillements.  Mais  ccux 
qui  en  ont  l'~  plus  de  besoin  prendront  ceux  la  ;  les  autres,  a 
I'arrive  des  oanots  cet  automne,  seront  babilli's  pareillement. 

sa 

(Signed)  AUGUSTIN  X  LAVIGNE, 

Marque. 
Tanoin, 
(Signed)  G.  A.  FAUCHE. 

Sworn  at  Fort  William,  on  the 
17th  August,  1816. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P.  ,    '   '  ;:," 


[translatiov.] 

Thfit  he  (A.  Lavifjnc)  was  at  the  fort  upon  Mouse  River 
last  spring,  when  Mr.  Alexander  M^Donoll  came  down 
from  the  Iliver  Qii'y\ppGllc  with  a  number  of  Bnile'^.  that 
the  deponent  entbarkcd  in  one  of  the  boats,  and  wont  clown 
as  far  as  the  Portage  de  la  Prairie,  where  he  disembarked 
by  the  orders  of  the  said  Mr.  M'Donell,  and  was  placed 
in  the  party  commanded  by  (J rant,  one  of  the  clerks  of 
the  Norti'-Wcst  Company,  aiong  with  whom  lie  went  on 
horseback  to  the  Forks  of  Red  River,  near  the  English 
fort,  occupied  by  the  gov<!rnor  of  IIiida()n''s  Bay.  That 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  19th  of  June,  \he  three  parties 
who  had  loft  the  Portage  la  Prairie  together,  drew  near  to 

i<  (I 


i  i ;) 


XXXVIII 


APPENDIX. 


u 


u^. , 


the  Frog  Plain,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  which  several  of 
the  agricultural  settlers  were  stationed,  at  the  distance  of 
about  two  leagues  from  the  English  fort.  That  then  the 
said  Lavignc  icfl  the  band  along  with  two  o(  liis  compa- 
nioii:-.  to  go  and  visit  an  inhabitant  with  whom  he  was  ac< 
quainted  ;  that  they  met  two  young  persons,  with  whom 
they  entered  into  conversation,  and  that  afterwards  they 
rejoined  a  band  of  Bruits,  who  accused  them  of  cowardice 
for  not  having  made  prisoners  of  these  two  English,  boast- 
ing that  they  themselves  had  taken  six.  That  these  Bru- 
its were  then  going  to  pursue  these  said  two  English,  when 
Governor  Semple  and  his  party  were  seen  coming  towards 
them  ;  that  the  Brutes  rdoined  their  band ;  that  the  depo- 
nent, Lavigne,  went  to  fetch  his  horse,  which  he  had  left 
behind ;  that  returning  on  horseback  he  heard  the  cric^, 
and  the  reports  of  tire-arms,  but  before  he  arrived  the  af- 
fair was  over,  and  there  remained  none  on  the  spot  but 
the  Bruit's,  who  were  still  firing  on  the  wounded,  who  made 
na  resistance.  The  deponent  adds,  that  he  saw  Mr.  Pritch-\ 
ard  and  another  Englishman,  who  had  thrown  down  their 
arms,  begging  for  mercy.  That  the  deponent,  with  much 
difficulty,  succeeded  in  saving  Mr.  Pritchard,  and  that  in 
protecting  him  he  received  many  blows  with  the  butt-end 
•f  the  muskets  ;  and  that  the  deponent  saw  the  other  Eng- 
lishman killed  by  a  shot  from  one  of  the  Brules. 

That  a  few  days  after  this  aflfair,  Messrs.  M'Leod  and 
M'Kenzie,  agents  of  the  North-West  Company,  arrived, 
accompanied  by  several  partners  and  clerks,  that  they  dis- 
tributed to  the  Brules  clothes  which  had  been  brought  in 
the  said  M'Leod's  canoe.  That  Mr.  M'Leod  assembled 
all  the  Bruit's  who  had  been  in  the  aftair  of  the  1 9th,  and 
made  them  the  following  speech  :  "  My  kinsmen,  my  com- 
rades, who  have  helped  us  in  the  time  of  need,  I  have 
brought  clothing  for  you.  I  expected  to  have  found  about 
forty  of  you  here  with  Mr.  M'Donell,  but  there  are  more 
of  you.  I  have  forty  suits  of  clothing  ;  those  who  are  most 
in  need  of  them  may  have  these,  and,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
canoes  in  autumn,  the  rest  of  you  siiaii  be  clothed  likewise." 

His 
(Signed)  AUGUSTINX  LAVIGNE. 

Mark. 

wr{tft€SS 

(Signed)        '    G.  A.FAUCHE. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  on  the 
17th  of  August,  1816. 


(Signed) 


SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


APPENDIX. 


xxliz 


[X.] 

Deposition  of  Louis  J^oUn. 

Before  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Miijesty's  jus- 
tices assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district  of  Up- 
per Canada,  appeared  Louis  Nolin,  clerk  in  the  service  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who,  being  duly  sworn  on  the  Holy 
Evangelists,  made  the  following  declaration. 

Q,u'a  la  fin  de  l'dt«5  de  I'ann^e  ini5,  il  sirriva  -a  la  Riviere 
Rouge,  avec  Monsieur  Robertson  ;  que  deux  jours  apic-  leur 
arriv^i  il  se  tint  une  consultation  dans  lo  fort  du  Nord-Oue^t,  oc- 
cupy par  Duncan  Cameron,  entre  Cameron,  ses  commis  et  in- 
terpretes,  pour  trouver  le  moyen  de  chasscr  d'un  coup  de 
main  les  colons  qui  revenoient  s'^taMir  l;i :  le  deposant  n'c'toit 
pas  pr^iient,  mais  Peter  Pan^man,  dit  Bostonois,  lui  a  raconle 
quelque  mois  apres,  qne  lui,  Bostonois,  ;  avoit  observe  aux 
autres  qu'il  seroit  sans  doute  pins  facile  de  chasser  les  colons 
tout  de  suiie,  mais  qu'il  nesavoit  pasde  quelle  excuse  on  pour- 
roit  se  servir  dans  ce  moment,  et  que  par  cet  raison,  on  a  de- 
termine d'attendre  jusqu'a-ce  qu'on  put  trouver  quelque  pr^- 
texte,  esperant  toujours  que  les  colons  seroient  contraints  dc 
quitter  le  pays  faute  de  provisions, 

Le  deposant  ajoute  que  dans  le  mois  d'Octobre  de  Pann^e 
1015,  deux  sauvages  revenant  du  fort  occupe  par  Duncan  Ca- 
meron, dirent  a  lui  deposant  que  Charles  Hesse  les  avoit  me- 
nace? de  les  fiire  perir  s'ils  avoient  encore  quelque  communica- 
tion avec  les  colons  Anglois. 

Le  deposant  infonne  que  dans  le  courant  de  Phtver  dernier 
Seraphim  Lamar  lui  dit  qu'il  avoit  re^u  une  lettre  d'Alexandre 
Fraser,  (stationc  a  lu  Riviere  Q,irAppelle,)  dans  Inquelle  il  lui 
i^onseilloit  de  ne  pas  perdre  courage,  que  lui,  Fraser,  etoit  le 
cinquieme  qui  pourroit  lever  les  Bois-Brules  pour  aller  exter- 
miner,  le  printcms  prochain,  les  Anglois  qui  se  trouveroient 
sur  la  Riviere  Rouge. 

Le  deposant  declare  que  le  matin  du  17  Juin,  1816,  le  Gou- 
verneur  Semple  le  lit  appellor  pour  lui  servir  d'interprete  a 
doux  Sauvages  appelle  Pun  Moustouche,  et  Pantre  Courte  Au- 
reille,  qui  avoient  quilts  le  camp  des  Bois-Brulds,  qui  eloil 
commande  par  Alexandre  M'Donell.  Ces  deux  deserteurs  ap- 
prirent  au  Gouverneur  qu'il  devoit  etre  attaqu^f  dans  deux  jours 
par  les  Bois-Brules,  qui  etoit  commands  par  Cuthbert  Grant, 
ifoole,  Primeau,  F'raser,  Bouras*a,  Lac.erbo,  et  Thomas  M'Kay, 
tons  employes  au  service  du  N'ord-Ouest  ;  quils  etoient  tous 
determines  de  prendre  le  fort,  et  que  si  quelqirnn  s'y  opposoit, 
ils  tueroient  honimes,  fenimes,  et  enfans.  et  que  s'ils  attrap- 
poient  Monsieur  Robertson  ils  le  couperoient  en  niille  mor- 
<;eaux. 

Le  deposant  iiiforme  de  plus,  que  le  10  Juin  dans  PapiV';- 
niicU,  il  vit  arriver  une  ciiirjuaiitaine  des  Bois-Bnil<'s,  ou  M-'tifs, 


D 


)' 


¥4 


ill 


At^PiSNbU. 


qui  s*avancoieiit  pnis  ilea  maisons  des  Anglois  qui  orxupoient  Id 
haut  dc  la  Grennuillitre,  (endroil  ^loigo^  d'une  lieue  du  furt 
Ahglois ;)  le  depcsant  dtarit  devnnt  le  fort  il  en  vit  ^ortir  le  Gou  ■ 
Vertieur  Sempiu  avec  vingt*huit  homines,  le  depoeant  monta 
Htlr  uii  bastion,  dont  il  vit  le  Gouvcrneur  Sem])lc  arranger  ses 
hottimes  en  lignes.  II  eiivoya  (in  tiunitne  a  ciicval  pour  s'in- 
foroier  de  ce  que  sc  pa^scroit,  que  bientdt  le  deposant  vit  ar- 
river  au  ibrt  Monsieur  Bourke,  qui  y  venoit  cherchcr  une 
]piece  de  canon  par  ordre  du  Gouverncur  Semple.  L'expros 
du  dejiosant  arriva  bientot,  et  lui  annon;a  qu'il  y  avoit  une 
'grande  quantiti^  de  Meti/'s  qui  avoient  enlev^  le  Gouverneuri 
Bur  quoi  le  deposant  envoya  une  seconde  fois  son  homme,  pour 
B^informcr  de  ce  qui  se  |)a.sRoit ;  Hix  minutes  aprt's,  son  homme 
Tut  de  retour  et  annon9a  que  cinq  de  ces  Mest>ieurs  Anglois  et 
le  Gouverncur  Semple  uvuient  et^  tu^s,  ainsi  que  plusieurs  de 
leutv  hommes  ;  tiindis  que  les  Metifs  n'en  avoient  perdu  qu'un 
Beiil.     Monsieur  Bourke  rcntra  au  fort,  bless^. 

Le  Vingt  de  Juin  le  deposant  se  rend  it  au  camp  des  Bois- 
brules  qui  se  trouvoient  a  la  Grenouilliere  ;  il  y  reconnut  dans 
le  camp  ennemi  deux  hommes  et  une  femme  qui  nppartenoit  il 
la  Colonic,  qui  avoient  ^te  pris  avant  que  le  Gouverncur  Sem- 
|ile  cut  join  les  Bois-Bruk's. 

Le  deposant  entra  en  conversation  avec  Cuthbert  Grant, 
M'kay,  lloole,  Pruneau,  Fraser,  Bourassa,  Lacerbe,  qui  se 
Vantoient  chacun  en  particulier  de  leurs  exploits,  dans  la  ba- 
laillc  du  19  Juin  centre  les  Ans;lois  ;  Cuthbert  Grant  disoit  que 
si  On  ne  lui  remettoit  pas  le  Fort  Douglas,  le  jour  suivant,  il 
tueroit  hommes,  fcmmes,  et  enfans. 

Le  2 1  les  Anglois  cedtrent  le  Fort  Douglas  au  Metifs,  (ou 
Bols-Bt-ull's,)  le  deposant  qui  ctoit  au  fort  a  appris  d'eux,  que 
le  Gouverncur  Scrapie  avoit  ote  blesxe  premi»'rement  parCuth- 
bcH  Grant,  et  qu'il  avoit  ete  tii^  par  Francois  Deschamps,  en- 
gag^  au  service  de  la  Compagnie  du  Nord-Ouest. 

Le  22  Juin,  1816,  Cuthbert  Grant  chassa  le-  colons  et  les 
fertvoya  a  la  Kiviere  au  Broclict,  et  s'empara  du  lort  et  de  tous 
les  effets. 

11  y  cut  ce  jour-la  une  assembl(5c  ou  les  Bois-Bruliis  dcman- 
derent  a  Monsieur  M'Kenzie,  si  Lord  Selkirk  avoit  droit  d'tHa- 
blir  des  colons  a  la  Riviere  Kouge  ;  Monsieur  M'Kenzie  re- 
ponciit  qu'il  n'en  avoit  aucun  droit ;  que  toutes  ces  terres  ap- 

1)artenoient  anx  Bois-Brulus  ;  et  Lord  Selkirk  pouvoit,  comme 
a  Compagnie  du  Nord-Ouest,  y  envoyer  des  traiteurs  ;  mais 
n'avoit  aucim  droit  de  s'emparer  de  ces  terres. 

Le  deposant  ajoute  qu'aussitut  apres  I'arrive  du  dit  Monsieur 
M'Kenzie,  les  traiteurs  de  la  Compagnie  d'Hudson  furent  aussi 
chasst:  de  la  Riviere  Rouge. 

(Signed)  LOUIS  NOLIN. 

Swol-n  at  Foit  William,  on  Lake  Superior, 
on  the  21st  day  of  August,  1816, 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


Al^PfeNDIk. 


lAt 


Taiteurs  ;  mais 


OUIS  NOF.IN. 


[translation.] 

That  at  the  end  of  summei-,  in  the  year  1 81 5,  he  (Louis 
Nolin)  arrived  at  the  Red  River  with  Mr.  Robertson  ;  that, 
two  days  after  their  arrival,  a  consultation  was  held  in  the 
fort  of  the  North-West  Company,  occupied  by  Duncan 
Cameron,  between  Cameron,  his  clerks  and  interpreters, 
to  iind  the  means  of  driving  away,  at  one  blow,  the  settlers 
who  were  returning  to  establish  themselves  there.  The 
deponent  was  not  present,  but  Peter  Pangman,  called  Bos- 
tonois,  related  to  him  some  months  afterwards,  that  he, 
Bostonois,  had  observed  to  the  others,  that  it  would,  n<» 
doubt,  be  more  easy  to  drive  aw  ly  the  settlers  immediate- 
ly ;  but  he  did  not  know  what  excuse  they  could  make  use 
of  at  that  moment,  and  that,  for  this  reason,  they  deter- 
mined to  wait  till  they  could  find  some  pretext,  still  hoping 
that  the  settlers  would  be  compelled  to  quit  the  country 
for  want  of  provisions^ 

The  deponent  adds,  that  in  the  month  of  October,  181.^, 
<wo  Indians,  returning  from  the  fort  occupied  by  Duncan 
Cameron,  said  to  him,  the  deponent,  that  Charles  1  Jesse 
had  threatened  to  destroy  them,  if  thoy  had  any  more  com- 
munication with  the  Ent^lish  colony. 

The  deponent  informs  that,  in  the  course  of  last  winter, 
Seraphim  Lamar  told  him,  that  he  had  received  a  letter 
from  Alexander  Phraser,  (stationed  at  the  RiverQu'Appelle,) 
in  which  he  advised  him  not  to  lose  courage,  that  he,  Fra- 
ser,  was  one  of  five  who  could  raise  the  Bois-Brul^s,  to  go 
and  exterminate  the  English  who  might  be  found  at  Red 
River  in  the  spring. 

The  deponent  declares,  that  on  the  morning  of  the  17th 
of  June,  1816,  Governor  Semple  had  him  called  to  serve 
as  interpreter  to  I  wo  Indians,  named  Mou«touche  and 
Courte  Aureille,  who  had  quitted  the  camp  of  the  Bois- 
Brulea,  which  was  commanded  by  Alexander  M'Donell. 
These  two  deserters  informed  the  Governor,  that  he  was 
to  be  attacked  in  two  days  by  the  Bois-Brules,  who  were 
commanded  by  Cuthbert  Grant,  Hoole,  Pruneau,  Fraser, 
Bourassa,  Lacerbe,  and  Thomas  M'Kay,  all  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  North-West  Company.  That  they 
were  all  determined  to  take  (he  fort ;  and  if  any  one  op- 
posed them,  they  would  kill  men,  women,  and  children  ; 
and  if  they  could  catch  Mr.  Robertson,  they  would  cut 
him  into  a  thousand  pieces. 


I 


Jeii 


xlii 


APPENDIX. 


»f 


The  deponent  further  informs,  that  on  the  19th  of  June, 
III  tlio  afternoon,  he  saw  about  fifty  of  the  Bois-Brul<?«  oi- 
Motifs  arrive,  who  advanced  near  (he  houses  of  the  ICn^- 
hsh,  who  occupied  the  height  of  the  Frog  Plain,  a  place 
about  a  league  from  the  English  fort.  The  deponent  wai 
in  front  of  the  fort,  and  he  saw  Governor  Semple  como 
out  with  twenty-eight  men.  The  deponent  stepped  up  on 
a  bastion,  from  whence  he  saw  the  governor  arrange  hi:* 
men  in  a  line.  He  (the  deponent)  sent  a  man  on  horse- 
back to  observe  what  might  happen.  That  soon  after,  the 
deponent  saw  Mr.  Bourkc  arrive  at  the  fort,  who  came 
there  for  a  piece  of  cannon,  by  order  of  Governor  Sem- 
ple. The  deponent's  messenger  returned  soon  after,  and 
informed  him,  that  there  was  a  great  number  of  Metifs  who 
liad  surrounded  the  governor,  on  which  the  deponent  sent: 
his  man  back  again  for  information.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
man  returned,  and  announced,  that  tivc  of  the  English  gen- 
tlemen, and  the  governor,  had  been  killed,  as  well  as  sq- 
veral  of  their  men,  while  the  Metifs  had  only  lost  one. 
Mr.  Bourke  returned  to  the  fort  wounded. 

On  tlif  20th  of  June,  the  deponent  went  to  the  camp  of 
the  Bois-Brults,  at  the  Frog-Plain.     He  there  observed  in 
the  enemy's  camp  two  men  and  a  woman,  who  belonged 
to  the  colony,  who  had  been  taken  before  Governor  Sem- 
ple had  met  the  Bois-Brules. 

The  deponent  entered  into  conversation  with  Cuthbcrt 
Grant,  M'Kay,  IIoolc,  Pruneau,  Eraser,  Bourassa,  Lacerbe  ; 
that  each  of  them  boa  Ued  of  their  own  particular  exploits 
in  the  battle  of  the  19t'i  of  June  with  the  English.  Cuth- 
bcrt Grant  said,  if  the/  did  not  give  up  Fort  Douglas  to 
him  the  next  day,  he  wo  ild  kill  men,  women,  and  children. 

On  the  ^Ist  the  English  gave  up  Fort  Douglas  to  the 
Metifs  or  Bois-Brules.  The  deponent,  who  was  at  the 
fort,  learned  from  them,  ihat  Governor  Semple  had  been 
first  wounded  by  Cuthbcrt  Grant,  and  that  he  had  been 
killed  by  Francis  Deschamps,  employed  in  the  service  of 
the  North- West  Company. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1816,  Cuthbert  Grant  drove  out 
the  settlers,  and  sent  them  to  Jack  River,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  fort,  and  all  the  effects. 

That  day  there  was  held  a  meeting,  at  which  the  Bois- 
Bruli^s  asked  Mr.  M'Kenzic,  if  Lord  Selkirk  had  a  right  to 
establish  settlers  at  the  Red  River.  Mr.  M'Kenzie  re- 
plied, that  he  had  no  right  whatever ;  that  all  these  lands 
belonged  to  the  Bois-Brulcs ;  and  Lord  Selkirk,  as  well  as 


APPENDIX.  lliJit. 

the  North- West  Company,  might  send  tia<lor8  there  ;  but 
he  had  no  right  to  take  poasession  of  these  lands. 

The  deponent  adds,  that  immediately  aller  the  arrival  oi' 
the  said  Mr.  M'Kenzie,  the  traders  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  were  also  driven  away  from  the  Red  llivor. 

(Signed)  LOUIS  NOLIN. 

Sworn  at  Fort  William,  on  Lake  Superior, 
the  21st  day  of  August,  181G. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


[V.] 

DcjwAlion  of  Louis  Dhmdean. 

Before  Thomns  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  MHJesty's  jus- 
tices uMdigiied  to  keep  the  peace,  in  the  western  district  of  Up- 
per Canada,  and  likewise  in  tlic  Indian  territories  or  part  of 
America,  appeared  Louis  Blondeau,  who,  hcinir  duly  sworn  ou 
the  Holy  Evangelists,  made  the  following  dcclanition. 

Que  dansle  cours  de  I'lnver  pass*^  etant  au  FortCumlicrland 
sous  les  ordres  de  Jean  Duncan  Campbell,  un  dcs  proprietairus 
de  la  Compagnie  du  Nord-Ouest.  le  dit  Campbell  a  propus(;  ;i 
lui,  Louis  Blondeau,  d'aller  it  la  Riviere  Rouge,  pour  dofendrc 
les  intdr^ts  de  la  dite  Compagnie  centre  les  colonistcs.  C^iii' 
lui,  Louis  Blondeau,  a  repondu,  qu'il  nedesiroit  point  scmeier 
de  mauvaises  affaires  centre  la  loi ;  que  le  dit  Campbell  a  rc- 
pliqud  qu'il  n'y  avoit  point  de  danger,  que  la  Conipjignie  du 
Nord-Ouest  le  prott'geroit  comme  elle  avait  tonjours  prott'gf' 
ceux  qui  avoient  agi  pour  ses  interets  ;  qu'on  avoit  vu  beau- 
coup  de  gens  qui  avoient  faits  de  mauvais  coups  pour  les  scrvir, 
et  que  jamais  on  avoit  vu  aucun  qui  en  avoit  subi  les  pcincs  de 
la  loi. 

Que  ci-aprcs  dans  le  meme  hiver  le  dit  Campbell  a  montrt- 
au  dit  Blondeau  une  lettre  qu'il  avoit  re9u  de  Jean  M'Donald, 
aussi  proprietaire  de  la  dite  Compagnie  du  Nord-Ouest,  rc^i- 
dant  a  la  Riviere  du  Cygne,  fitisant  invitation  de  hi  part  de  la 
Compagnie,  a  tous  les  Metifs  et  autres  qui  voudroient  aller  u  la 
Riviere  Rouge  pour  defendre  les  int«5rets  de  la  Compagnie,  et 
que  suivant  cette  invitation  sept  Metifs  et  un  Canadien  (dont  un 
commis  et  les  autres  engages  au  service  de  la  dite  Compngnie) 
sont  partis  du  Fort  Cumberland  dans  le  inois  d'Avril,  i»our  se 
rendre  a  la  Riviere  Q,u'AppeIle.  Q,ne  le  dit  Louis  Blondeau  a 
vu  quelques-uns  d'eux  en  bas  de  la  Riviere  Winipique,  qui  lui 
ont  raconte  qu'ils  avoient  tte  Awm  la  bataille  du  19  Juin,  dans 
laquelle  ils  avoient  tue  le  Gouverneur  Semple,  et  beaucotip  des 
colonistes,  qu'ils  lui  avoient  montre  le  butin  qu'ils  avoient  rc<;us 


) 


kitt^i 


!/■)» 


f   il 


; 


xliv 


AI'FRNDIX. 


i 


<.. 


I 


•^ 


|>our  leur  recompence,  qui  avoient  cSt^  tirt'«  cle«  effeU  pillt*  dn 
mup/ins  de  la  colnnie,  ft  qiriU  iivninnt  rncontt^  a  »  .,  Loui* 
Blondeau,  que  ces  eifeta  leur  avoient  <-tt^  dixtrihu^t  pur  Moniieur 
Archibald  Norman  M'Leod,  un  den  propridtuiren  do  la  dite 
Compiii^nie  du  Nord-Ouest. 

Le  dit  Louis  Hlondeau,  declare  auHHi  avoir  cntendii  lire  par 
le  dit  Jean  Duncan  Campbell  une  lettre  qui  lui  avoit  vtC  udreit- 
8^e  comme  a  tout  les  aiitren  proprit'taircH  de  la  ConqiaKnie  du 
Nord-Oue«t,  dani*  le  moiH  de  Fevrier  ou  de  Miirs.  pur  le  Gou- 
verneur  Semple  et  par  Monr«ieur  Kobertsnn,  qui  proniettoient 
qu'ils  nu  mettroient  aucun  ohKtncle  i  In  sortie  (Ips  vivres  de  In 
Compa;jnie  du  Nord-Oue«t,  de  la  Rivit'rc  Honjte,  poiirvu  que 
de  I'ttutre  part  on  laimteroit  lil)re  »ortin  au  commtTco  <l»'  la 
Compa^nie  de  la  Baie  d'Hudaon,  proponition  que  le  dit  Camp< 
bell  a  paru  mtSpriaer. 

(Signed)  LOUIS  BLONDEAU. 

Sworn  at  Kaministii^oia,  this 

l!2th  day  of  August,  181G,  ly   •    . 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P^  1 


before  me, 


[translation.] 

That,  in  the  course  of  last  winter,  he  (I.ouis  Blontlcau) 
was  at  Fort  Cumberland,  under  the  orders  of  John  Duncuii 
Campbell,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany. The  said  Campbell  proposed  to  him,  Louis  Hlon- 
deau, to  e,o  to  the  Red  Kivcr,  to  defend  th'-  interests  of  the 
8aid  Company  against  the  settlers.  Tha<  he,  Louis  Hlon- 
deau, replied,  that  he  did  not  wish  to  meddle  in  such  mat- 
ters against  the  law  ;  that  the  said  Campbell  replied,  there 
was  no  danger;  that  the  North-West  Company  would  pro- 
tect him,  as  they  had  always  protected  those  who  had  acted 
for  their  interests.  That  there  were  many  people  who 
had  done  such  things  to  serve  them,  but  no  one  had  ever 
seen  them  sulTer  for  it. 

That  afterwards,  in  the  same  winter,  the  said  Campbell 
Fhowed  to  the  8aid  Blondeau,  a  letter  he  had  received 
from  John  Macdonald,  also  a  proprietor  in  the  said  North- 
West  Company,  residing  at  Swan  River,  giving  an  in- 
vitation, on  the  part  of  the  Company,  to  all  the  Mctifs 
and  others  who  chose  to  go  to  the  Red  River,  to  defend 
the  interests  of  the  Company.  And  that,  in  conse<|iicnce 
of  this  invitation,  seven  Metifs  and  one  Canadian,  (of 
whom  one  was  a  clerk,  and  the  others  servants  of  the  said 


AfPENOIX. 


xIt 


ComDany,)  set  out  from  Fort  Cumberland,  in  the  month  of 
April,  to  go  to  (he  River  Qui  Appelle.— That  the  said  Louia 
filoiideaii  saw  some  of  tlicni  altRrwardi  at  the  mouth  of  tho 
River  Winipic,  who  related  to  him  that  they  had  been  in  the 
battle  of  the  19th  of  June,  in  which  they  had  killttd  Go- 
vernor Sempio  and  many  of  the  settlers.  That  they 
showed  him  the  booty  they  had  received  as  their  reward, 
which  had  been  given  out  of  the  effects  pillaged  from  the 
stores  of  the  colony ;  and  that  they  told  him,  Louis  Blon> 
deau,  that  these  effects  had  been  distributed  to  them  by 
Mr.  Archibald  Norman  M'Leod,  one  of  the  proprietors  of 
^the  said  North- West  Company. 

The  said  Louis  Blondcau  also  declares,  that  he  hcafl 
ibesaid  Duncan  Campbell  read  a  letter  which  had  beuA 
#4thrf88ed  to  him,  as  well  as  to  all  the  other  proprietors  of 
the  North* West  Company,  in  the  month  or  February  or 
March,  4>y|;Governor  Semple  and  Mr.  Robertson,  who 
promi^d  t|i|^t  they  would  put  no  obstacle  to  the  carrying 
out  the  North-Wcst  Company's  provisions  by  the  Red 
River,  provided  the  other  party  would  allow  free  passage 
to  the  trade  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company— a  proposal 
which  the  said  Campbell  appeared  to  treat  with  contempt. 

(Signed)  LOUIS  BLONDEAU. 

Sworn  at  Kaministigoia,  this  13th 

day  of  \ugust,  18 16,  before  me, 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


i  I .'  >i 


[Z.  ] 

Deposition  of  Joseph  Brisbois, 

Bbforb  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's  jus- 
tices assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district  of  Up- 
per Canada,  appeared  Joseph  Brisbois,  guide  in  the  service  of 
the  North- West  Company,  who,  being  duly  sworn  on  thir  i)>.ly 
Evangelists,  made  the  following  declaration  : 

QjQ*il  dtoit  avec  Monsieur  Cuthbert  Grant  quand  il  a  pris  les 
bateaux  de  la  Compagniede  la  Baied' Hudson,  qui  dtiscendoient 
la  Riviere  Qu'Appelle,  dans  lesquels  il  y  avott  plusieurs  pa- 
quets  de  peltrie  appartentint  a  la  dite  Compagnie  d'Hudson. 
Le  deposant  declare  de  plus,  qu'a  son  arrive  au  fort  des  An- 
glois  bati  sur  la  Riviere  aux  Souris,  (qui  ^toit  d^ja  occupe  par 
les  Bois-Brul^s  alors,)  <;tant  camp^  devant  le  fort  mention^,  le 
deposant  en  vit  sortir  des  paquets  qui  ^toient  transportes  par 
let  Bruits,  et  qui  les  poserent  dans  les  bateaux  de  la  Compa- 

I  1 


* 


xlvi 


APPENDIX. 


Sf 


Wlj 

i ,  ^y 

1% 

p  S 

7 

■  ;}1 

^  1 

i'lf 

If' •if 

i 

ll 

» 

il 


4    tM 

1" 

iPi 

P 

gnie  du  Nord-Ouest ;  qu'ensoite  ils  traverscrent  la  Riviere  du 
cdtd  ou  la  Compagnie  du  Nord  Quest  a  un  ^tabliisement. 

Le  deposant  declare  que  depuis  la  Riviere  Rouge  il  y  avoit 
huit  canots  en  sa  charge  pour  le»  conduire  au  Fort  William, 
qii'en  dechargeant  ces  canots  il  reconnut  des  paquets  apparte- 
nant  a  la  Compagnie  de  la  Baie  d'Hodson,  qui  furent  ibis  dans 
un  d^s  hangards  du  fort  par  les  enga(i;^s  de  la  Compagnie  du 
Nord-Ouest  ;  qu'ensuite  Messrs.  Kennedy  et  Harrison,  qui 
^toient  presens  pour  les  recevoir,  les  peserent  et  firent  arran- 

f^er  les  paquets  en  question  en  ligne.  Apres  que  les  peltries 
iirent  detachdes  et  pes^es,  Monsieur  Alexandre  M'Ke.-izie  en- 
tra  dans  Thangard,  et  ordonna  a  ses  gens  d'attacher  chaque  pa- 
quet  au  milieu,  pour  qu'on  pent  les  transporter  dans  un  autre 
hangard,  ou  le  deposant  Jo8e{)h  Briabois,  conduisit  les  engng^j 
pour  ieur  montrcr  la  place  qui  ^toit  assignee  pour  placer  les 
paquets  en  question. 

Le  deposant  croit  qu'il  est  de  son  deroir  de  dire  que  le  nom- 
bre  des  paquets  appartenant  a  lu  Compagnie  de  la  Baie  d'llud- 
8on,  qui  ont  etc  transport*?  de  la  Riviere  des  Souris,  et  Qu'Ap- 
pelle,  dans  les  hangards  du  Fort  William,  peut  se  monter  a  quar 
rabte  paquets. 

Le  deposant  croit  qu'il  s'est  ccoule  a  peu  prcs  deux  ou  trois 
semaines  depuis  qu'il  est  de  re  tour  de  son  voyage. 

Sa 
(Signe)  JOSEPH  +  BRISBOIS. 

Marque. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  the 
19tb  day  of  August,  181C. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


TRANSLATION. 


That  he  (Joseph  Brisbois)  was  'vith  Mr.  Cuthbert  Grant, 
when  he  took  the  boats  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
coming  down  the  River  Qui  Appclle,  in  which  there  were 
several  packages  of  peltry,  belonging  to  the  said  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  The  deponent  further  declared,  that,  on 
his  arrival  at  the  English  fort  on  Mouse  River,  (which  was 
then  occupied  by  the  Bois-Brules,)  being  encamped  before 
the  said  fort,  he  saw  packages  brought  out  of  it,  which 
were  carried  by  the  Bruits,  who  placed  them  in  the  boats 
of  the  North- West  Company.  That  afterwards  they 
crossed  the  river  to  the  side  where  the  North-West  Com- 
pany have  an  establishment. 

The  deponent  declares,  that  he  had  charge  of  eight 
canoes  from  the  Red  River  to  Fort  William. — That,  on 
unloading  these  canoes,  b"  .  ccognized  packages  belonging 


# 


APPENDIX. 


ilvii 


deux  ou  trois 


to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  were  put  into  one  of 
the  store-houses  of  the  fort  by  the  servants  of  the  North- 
West  Company.  That  afterwards  Messrs.  Kennedy  and 
Harrison,  who  were  present  to  receive  them,  weighed 
them,  and  arranged  them  in  a  row.  After  the  furs  were 
opened  out  and  weighed,  Mr.  Alexnnd^r  M^Kenzie  entered 
the  shed,  and  ordered  his  people  ic  tie  each  package  in 
the  middle,  that  they  might  be  carried  into  another  store- 
house, to  which  the  deponent,  Joseph  Brisbois,  conducted 
the  servants,  to  show  them  the  place  appointed  for  the 
packages  in  question. 

The  deponent  thinks  it  is  his  duty  to  say,  that  the  num- 
ber of  packages  belonging  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
which  were  brought  down  from  Mouse  River,  and  Qui 
Appelle,  might  amount  to  forty  packages. 

The  deponent  thinks,  that  about  two  or  three  weeks 
have  passed  since  he  returned  from  his  voyage. 

fiis 
(Signed)         JOSEPH  +  BRISBOIS. 

Mark. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  the  19th 

day  of  August,  1816. 

(Signed)        SELKIRK,  J.  P,  ; 


[  A.  A.  ]  * 

Deposition  of  C.  G.  Bruce. 

Before  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's  jus- 
tices assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district  of  Up- 
per CanadR,  appeared  Charles  Gaspard  Bruce,  who,  being  duly 
sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  made  the  folio  wing  declaration  : 

Q,u'il  partit  de  Montreal  pour  se  rendre  a  la  Riviere  Rouge 
avcc  Monsieur  Miles  M'Donell.  et  pour  lui  servir  d'interprete 
pour  la  langue  Sautoux  ;  que  le  24  Juin  ils  rencontrerent  au 
Lac  de  la  Fluie  plusieurs  Sauvages  de  cette  nation,  qui  dirent 
au  deposant  que  Monsieur  M'Leod  et  Monsieur  Alexandre 
M'Kenxie  avoient  fait  assemblee  tous  les  Sauvages  des  environs, 
pour  leur  proposer  de  les  suivre  a  la  Riviere  Rouge  pour  y 
delivrer  Monsieur  Duncan  Cameron,  qui  y  dtoit  detenu  prison- 
nier  par  les  Anglois  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson,  et  que  si  les  Anglois 
ne  vouloient  pas  le  leur  rendre.  ils  prenderoient  Monsieur  Ca- 
meron de  force,  et  que  tout  ce  qui  sc  trouvcroit  dans  le  fort 
seroit  donne  a  eux  (les  Sauvages,)  pour  les  recompenser  de 
leur  peine.     Les  Sauvages  qui  racontercnt  ces  faits  s'appelloient 


7; 


xlviii 


APPENDIX. 


u  II  fl  Si 


h  - 

k 


'i) 


*¥  i 


Oniegakuet,  Sbabin^,  et  son  fils.  C"?  Sauvages  dirent  qii'iU 
n'aToient  pas  voulu  suivre  Messieurs  M'Leod  et  M'Kenzie, 
mais  que  vingt-un  Sautcax  les  avoient  suivis,  quelques  uns  dans 
leurs  propres  can6t8,  et  les  autres  dans  les  canots  de  la  Compa- 
gnie  du  Nord-Ouest.  Ce  recit  fut  coniinne  par  les  relations 
d'autres  Saavages  de  la  meme  bande. 

Le  jour  suivant  Monsieur  M'Donell  et  1e  deposant  rencon- 
trerent  une  autre  bande  des  Sautoux,  qui  dirent  de  plus,  que  le 
Docteur  M'Laugblin  avoit  passe  deux  jours  auparavant,  et  avoit 
aussi  cherche  a  avoir  des  Sauvages  pour  I'accompagner  a  lu 
Riviere  Rouge,  que  cinq  Sautoux  acceptercnt  ses  propositions, 
et  qu'ils  ^toient  partis  pour  aller  joindre  Messrs.  M'Leod,  M'Ken- 
zie, et  Leitb,  et  beaucoup  d'autres  bourgeois  de  la  Compagnie, 
qui  se  rasseinbloient  a  la  Riviere  Rouge. 

His 
(Signed)  CHARLES.  G.  +  BRUCE. 

Mark. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  on  the 

23d  of  August,  1816.  , 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P.  \ 


[translation.] 

That  he  (C.  G.  Bruce)  left  Montreal  to  go  to  Red 
River  with  Mr.  Miles  M'Donell,  to  serve  as  an  interpreter 
for  the  Sautoux  language;  that  on  the  24th  day  of  June, 
at  Lac  la  Pluie,  they  met  several  Indians  of  that  nation, 
who  told  the  deponent  that  Mr.  M'Leodand  Mr.  Alexander 
M'Kenzie  had  called  together  all  the  Indians  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood, to  propose  that  they  should  go  along  with  them 
to  Red  River,  in  order  to  release  Mr.  Duncan  Cameron, 
who  was  (^tained  there  prisoner  by  the  English  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  that  if  the  English  would  not 
give  him  up  they  would  take  Mr.  Cameron  by  force,  and 
that  whatever  might  be  found  in  the  fort  should  be  given 
to  the  Indians  as  a  recompense  for  their  trouble.  The 
Indians  who  told  this  were  Oniegakuet,  Shabin^,  and  hie 
eon.  These  Indians  mentioned  that  they  themselves  re- 
fu«r-d  to  follow  Messrs.  M'Leod  and  M'Kenzie,  but  that 
twenty-one  Sautoux  had  accompanied  them,  some  in  their 
own  canoes,  and  the  rest  in  the  canoes  of  the  North- West 
Company.  This  statement  was  confirmed  by  other  Indians 
of  the  same  band. 

The  following  day  Mr.  M'Donell  ard  the  deponent 
met  another  band  of  the  Sautoux,  who  told  them, 
that  Dr.  M'Laughlin  had  also  passed  two  days  before, 
and  had  likewise  tried  to  prevail  on  some  Indians 
to  accompany  him  to  Red  River.     That   five    Sautoux 


APPENDIX. 


cHk 


accepted  his  proposals,  and  that  they  set  out  to  join 
Messrs.  M'Leod,  M'Kenzie,  and  Letth,  and  many  other  partners 
of  the  Company,  who  were  assembUng  at  the  Red  River. 

His 
CHARLES  G.  +  BRUCE. 
Mark. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  on  the 
!23dof  August,  1816. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J  P. 


[  B.  B.  ] 

Deposition  of  John  Bourke. 

Montreal,  7  John  Bourke,  late  of  Fort  Douglas,  at  Red 
to  wit  :  5  River,  in  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  in  North  America,  now  at  the  city  of  Montreal, 
in  the  Province  of  Lower  Canada,  gentleman,  maketh  oath, 
that  he  went  out  in  the  service  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany to  Hudson's  Bay,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  twelve,  and  remained  at  York  Fac- 
tory till  the  following  year,  when  he  went  to  the  settle- 
ment, formed  by  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  at  Red  River  aforesaid, 
and  acted  there  as  a  store-keeper  to  the  colony.  That  in 
the  latter  end  of  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  present 
year,  information  was  received  at  Fort  Douglas  aforesaid, 
from  Indians  and  Canadians,  that  the  North- West  Company 
were  collecting  Indians  of  the  half-breed,  as  they  are  call- 
ed, that  is,  the  bastard  ctiildren  of  the  partners  and  ser- 
vants of  that  Company,  by  Indian  women,  from  their  diffe- 
rent trading  posts,  and  were  forming  them  into  a  body  at 
their  trading  post,  called  Fort  QuiAppelle,  for  the  purpose 
of  attacking  and  destroying  the  said  settlement  at  Red 
River.  The  said  Fort  ^ui  Appelle  was  then  under  the 
charge  of  Alexander  M'Donell,  one  of  the  partners  in  the 
said  North-West  Company,  assisted  by  one  Cuthbert  Grant, 
and  one  Fraser,  both  of  them  Indians  of  the  said  half-breed, 
and  clerks  in  the  service  of  that  Company.  The  informa- 
tion of  this  intended  attack  was  conveyed  by  different  per- 
sons, and  was  received  in  such  manner,  that  no  doubt  was 
entertained  of  its  truth.  An  almost  constant  watch  was. 
therefore,  kept  up,  night  and  day,  to  discover  the  approach 
of  any  of  the  parties  of  the  North-West  Company.  On  the 
nineteenth  day  of  June  last,  about  five  /'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, a  man  in  the  watch-house  at  Fort  Douglas  aforesaid, 
called  out  to  Governor  Semple,  that  a  party  of  horsemen 
were  approaching  the  said  settlement.    The  deponent  was 


) 


;   ^ 


I 


APPENDIX. 


i    i 


then  witii  the  said  governor,  and  observed  a  number  of  men 
on  horseback,  at  the  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  from  the 
fort.  The  deponent,  with  others,  went  into  the  watch< 
house,  for  the  purpose  of  viewing  the  said  party  of  horse- 
men, witi;  1  spy-glass,  and  they  then  distinctly  perceived 
that  the  sai<^  party  consisted  of  sixty  or  seventy  men  on 
horse-b»  ;k,  :>  1  of  them  armed,  and  approaching  the  settle- 
ment ii.  .  hbatile  manner.  The  said  governor  having  viewed 
the  approach  of  these  men,  who  appeared  to  direct  their 
course  towards  the  settlement  belcw  the  fort,  desired  twen- 
ty men  to  follow  him,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what 
was  their  object ;  and  upwards  of  that  number,  among 
whom  the  deponent  was,  immediately  collected  and  went 
with  him  out  cf  the  fort.  When  the  governor  and  his  par- 
ty had  advanced  about  half  a  mile,  they  were  met  by  some 
of  the  settlers,  who,  alarmed  and  terrified,  were  running  to 
the  fort  for  protection,  and  saying,  that  the  people  of  the 
North-West  Company  were  coming  with  carts  and  cannoUf 
The  governor,  apprehending  that  the  settlement  was  about 
to  be  attacked,  desired  the  deponent  to  go  back  to  the  fort 
for  a  piece  of  cannon  which  was  there,  and  to  desire  Mr. 
Sheriff  M'Donell,  then  deputy -governor  at  the  fort,  to 
send  with  it  any  men  he  could  spare.  The  deponent  ac- 
cordingly returned  to  (he  fort  and  delivered  the  said  mes- 
sage, but  Mr.  M'Donell  would  only  'allow  ote  man  to  ac- 
company him,  and  with  this  man  the  deponent  set  out  from 
the  fort  with  the  cannon  in  a  cart.  They  had  advanced 
the  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  from  the  fort,  when  they 
saw  that  the  party  of  horsemen  had  sur^'ounded  the  go- 
vernor, and  they  distinguished  the  flashes  from  the  guns 
which  were  firing.  The  deponent  fearing  lest  he  should  be 
intercepted  with  the  cannon,  thought  it  prudent  to  convey 
it  back  to  the  fort,  and  accompanied  it  part  of  the  way 
himself,  and  then  sent  it  forward  by  the  man  who  was  with 
him,  at  the  same  time  the  deponent  was  joined  by  about  ten 
men  from  the  fort,  who  proceeded  with  him  towards  the 
place  where  they  expected  to  find  the  governor.  Upon 
advancing  further,  they  observed  that  the  horsemen,  by 
whom  the  governor  and  his  party  had  been  surrounded,  had 
dispersed,  and  were  scattered  over  the  ground,  but  did  not 
see  the  governor  or  any  of  his  party.  The  deponent  hesi- 
tated to  go  forward,  when  some  of  the  hostile  party  cried 
out  to  the  deponent  in  English,  "  Come  on,  come  on,  here 
"  is  the  governor,  won't  you  come  and  obey  him?"  The 
deponent  advanced  a  little  further,  when  the  same  persons 
cried  out.  "  Give  up  your  arms."'     Apprehending  that  the 


■^^ 


mmo'' 


APPENDIX. 


li 


governor  and  his  party  had  been  destroyed,  and  believing 
it  was  the  wish  of  the  murderers  to  get  him,  the  deponent, 
also  into  their  hands,  the  deponent  turned  back  with  the 
ten  men  who  were  with  him,  and  they  made  aii  haste  to 
escape ;  in  their  flight,  the  deponent  received  a  shot  in  his 
right  thigh,  and  Duncan  M'Naughten,  one  of  the  ten  men, 
was  killed.  About  an  hour  after  the  deponent  reached  the 
fort,  he  heard,  from  persons  who  had  escaped  from  the 
massacre,  that  Governor  Semple  and  the  persons  with  him, 
excepting  four  or  hve,  had  been  murdered  by  the  said  party 
of  horsemen,  which  was  composed  of  clerks  and  servants 
of  the  North-West  Company,  headed  by  Cuthbert  Grant 
above  named.    The  next  day  the  said  Cuthbert  Grant  and 
the  said  Fraser,  both  of  them  clerks  in  the  service  of  the 
North- West  Company  as  aforesaid,  with  about  sixteen  or 
seventeen  of  their  associates  inthe  murdersof  the  preceding 
day,  came  to  Fort  Douglas,  and  threatening  every  body  in 
the  fort  and  settlement  with  immediate  death,  if  their  orders 
tvere  notcompUed  with,  insisted  on  the  immediate  abandon- 
ment of  the  fort  and  of  the  settlement,  and  that  properly  of 
every  kind  should  be  delivered  up  to  them.     After  some 
conversation  and  entreaty,  their  terms  were  so  far  modified, 
that  it  was  determined  that  the  property  of  private  indivi- 
duals should  be  respected,  but  that  every  thing  that  belong- 
ed to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  and  the  colony  generally,  should 
be  the  spoil  of  the  plunderers. — A  writing,  purporting  to  be 
a  capitulation,  was  drawn  up  to  this  eHect,  between  Mr. 
Sheriff  M^Donell,  having  charge  of  Fort  Douglas,  and  the 
said  Cuthbert  Grant,  which  was  signed  by  the  latter  as 
clerk  to  the  North-Wesl  Company.     Notwithstanding  the 
assurance  given,  that  private  property  should  not  be  vio- 
lated, almost  dvery  thing  which  the  settlers  and  servants  of 
the  colony  possessed,  became  the  spoil  of  these  servants  of 
the  North- Went  Company,  and  was  taken  by  force.  While 
the  settlers  wrxe  preparing  for  their  departure,  some  con- 
versation took  place  between  the  said  Cuthbert  Grant  and 
the  deponent,  in  which  the  said  Grant  said,  that  if  he  could 
have  got  hold  of  Mr.  Colin  Robertson  (the  agent  for  Lord 
Selkirk,  by  whom  the  co!   ly  had  been  re-established,)  he 
would  have  got  him  scalped. — The  second  day  after  the 
massar'-p,  the  deponent  saw,  in  the  Government  House, 
one  Fran9oi8  Fennin  Boucher,  a  Canadian,  the  son  of  a  ta- 
vern keeper  at  Montreal,  then  in  the  service  of  the  North- 
Wcst  Compcny,  who  was  armed,  and  acted  under  the  orde/s 
of  the  said  <.;uthbert  Grant,  by  whom  he  was  employetl 
to  conduct  away  the  colonists  as  far  as  the  Frog  Plains.  The 
deponent  was  well  acqua^iated  with  the  said  Cuthbert  Grant, 


-- r^' 


s*i''i)  .,pj, >■■■»■( 


): 


I 


lu 


APPENDIX. 


as  well  as  with  the  said  Fraser,  having  become  acquainted 
with  them  as  clerks  of  the  North- West  CompKriV,  and  been 
frequently  'vjth  them.     They  were  genpfaliy  statioHcd  as 
clerks,  at  Fort  Q?/t  Jppelle  ;  they  are  nsUiral  c'lildreri  of 
the  partnere  ia  the  North-West  Company,  ami  have  been 
educated  in  Lower  Canada,  rvherfi  ihey  recojvjd  ay  good  nn 
education  as  young  mr  i  intended  for  mercantile  business 
generally  do.  In  the  hurry  and  concision  which  succeeded 
the  massacre,  the  deponent  could  get  no  assistance  for  his 
wound,  and  it  wa>;  not  till  ty-'O  days  after,  that  two  Indians 
were  kind  enough  to  dress  it.     When  the  attache  was  made 
on  Governor  Se.nple,  as  above  mcntioni  d,  there  was*  an. 
evicampraent  of  Sautoux  and  Cjee  Indians  opposite  to  Fort 
.Doiiglns.     These  Indians  took  no   pirt  whatever  .  ■  the 
hostility  which  had  been  evinced  a^-ainat  the  cotony,  nor  in 
anv  of  the  atrcciticsi  which  were  perpetrated  for  its  destruc- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  they  lamented  the  fate  of  Governor 
So'Tsple,  and  those  murdered  with  him,  hardly  less  than  the 
colonists  themselves,  and  were  anxiows  to  show  th«ir  good 
disposition  towards  the  colony,  by  every  act  of  kindness  in 
their  power.     They  assisted  in  bringinr^-  some  of  the  dead 
bodies  of  those  who  had  been  murdered  to  Forf  Douglas, 
and  in  burying  them  ;  their  conduct,  in  this  respect,  cor- 
responded with  that  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  with  whom  the 
colonists  had  any  intercourse,  from  the  first  establishment  of 
the  colony  to  its  destruction,  as  above  mentioned.  All  these 
tribes  were  invariably  kind  towards  the  colony,  and  seemed 
well  pleased  at  its  establishment.  The  troubles  and  disasters 
which  were  experienced  by  the  colony,  were  occasioned  by 
the  jealousy  and  hostility  o(  the  North-West  Company, 
and  no  person  on  the  spot  doubted  that  (he  atrocities  which 
were  committed  there  were  the  effect  of  this  hostility,  and 
tho  work  of  the  agents  and  servants  of  that  Company,  under 
its  sanction.  The  settlers  and  servants  of  the  colony,  to  the 
number  of  about  two  hundred  souls,  were  conveyed  away 
from  the  colony  in  eight  boats ;  and  on  the  second  day 
after  their  departure  they  met  Mr.  Archibald  Norman 
M'Leod,  one  of  the  partners  in  the  North-West  Company, 
and  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  the  Indian  territories,  with 
nine  or  ten  canoes,  and  one  batteau,  in  which  were  two 
pieces  of  artillery  belonging  ti   Lord  Selkirk,  which  had 
been  stolen  the  year  before  from  the  colony  ;  and  his  ijien 
were,  some  of  them,  armed  with  muskets  which  had  been 
stolen  at  the  same  time.     The  number  of  men  with  said 
M'Leod  was  about  one  hundred,  ail  of  them  armed,  and 
among  them  were  a  number  of  the  half-breeds,  and  he  was 
accompanicid  by  Alexander  M'Keozie,  James  Leith,  John 


':af"£y;'' 


APPENDIX. 


Ini 


McDonald,  Hagh  M'GilIi&,  John  Duncan  Campbell,  John 
Haldane,  James  Hughes,  and  Thomas  M'Murray,  partners 
in  the  North  -West  Company.  Upon  the  approach  of  the 
said  canoes  to  the  boats  in  which  the  settlers  were,  the 
war-hoop  was  set  up,  and  inquiries,  in  the  most  insulting 
manner  and  abusive  language  were  made,  whether  Mr.  Ro- 
bertson and  Governor  Semple  were  in  the  boats.  After 
these  inquiries,  the  said  M'Leod  ordered  the  settlers  ashore, 
and  caused  a  general  search  to  be  made,  in  their  trunks, 
boxes,  and  eifects,  and  took  out  of  them  all  the  books  and 
papers  which  could  be  found,  and  among  these,  some  books 
and  papers  which  had  belonged  to  Governor  Semple.  After 
this  search  was  made,  the  said  M'^Leod  caused  the  said 
boats  to  go  to  a  place  called  Netley  Creek,  about  one  or  two 
miles  further  down  Red  River,  where  he  made  prisoners, 
Michael  Heden,  Patrick  Corcoran,  Daniel  M  Kay,  John 
Pritcha.rd,  and  the  deponent,  who  were  in  the  boats  of  the 
colonists.  A  general  encampment  was  made  at  this  place, 
and  white  the  people  were  so  encamped,  a  part  of  the  per- 
sons so  engaged  in  the  massacre  of  Governor  Semple,  and 
the  persons  with  him,  came  thither  from  Fort  Douglas,  and 
among  these  were  the  said  Fraser,  and  one  Bourrassa,  also 
a  clerk  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company.  The 
deponent  could  not  see  in  what  manner  they  were  recei- 
ved, being  confined  to  his  tent,  but  heard  at  the  time  ihat 
they  were  received  with  open  arms  by  the  said  M'Leod,  ana 
treated  with  every  thing  he  could  give  them.  The  depo- 
nent and  his  fellow-prisoners  were  afterwards  placed  by  the 
said  M^Leod,  under  the  guard  of  these  murderers,  and  even 
detained  some  days  at  the  same  place,  till  the  said  M'Leod 
went  to  Fort  Douglas  to  make  some  arrangements,  and 
then  returned.  Upon  his  return,  the  said  M'Leod  sent  the 
deponent  and  his  fellow-prisoners  to  Point  au  Foutre,  and 
some  days  after  arrived  there  himself,  bringing  with  him 
the  wall-pieces,  and  the  deponent  believes  also  the  artillery 
and  muskets  of  the  colony,  jvhich,  after  the  massacre,  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  Cuthbert  Grant  and  his  party.  He 
then  took  charge  of  the  whole  party,  and  came  with  them 
to  a  trading  post  of  the  North-West  Company,  called  Fort 
William.  The  morning  of 'their  departure,  the  deponent 
was  put  in  irons,  and  all  his' clothes  were  taken  from  him, 
together  with  his  watch,  and  a  pocket  case  of  mathematical 
instruments  ;  and  in  this  situation  he  was  placed  on  the  top 
of  the  baggage,  in  the  canoe,  without  any  attention  being 
paid  to  his  wound,  and  was  conveyed  to  Fort  William. 
After  his  arrival  there,  he  was  put  in  confinement  in  a  place 

KK 


)    Ejl 

'  \  IftS 

11 

'  ■  '■  ^nS 

'  ''^f 

^  -•?"■ '% 

li? 


APPENDIX. 


tt>.\ 


that  had  been  used  as  a  privy,  into  which  light  wan  not 
admitted,  except  through  crevices  between  tlie  logs,  of 
which  the  building  was  constructed,  and  in  which  an  into- 
lerable stench  prevailed.  In  this  place  the  deponent  was 
confined  twenty  days,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he 
was  sent  to  Montreal. — The  deponent  further  saith,  that  on 
their  way  to  Fort  William,  when  within  a  few  days  journey 
of  Lac  a  la  Pluie,  the  deponent  slept  near  the  tent  of  one 
Campbell,  a  partner  in  the  North- West  Company,  when 
several  of  the  partners  in  the  same  Company,  viz,  Alexan- 
der M'Donell,  Hugh  M'Gillis,  and  others,  were  standing  at 
a  lire  near  where  the  deponent  lay,  and  engaged  in  con- 
versation ;  the  deponent  over-heard  part  of  their  conversa- 
tion, in  which  the  said  Alexander  M'Donell  said,  ^'  The 
"  sending  down  of  the  half-breeds  was  certainly  carrying 
"  things  to  an  extremity."  And  he  afterwards  said,  (as  if 
by  way  of  accounting  for  what  had  happened,)  "  but  it  can 
•'  be  said  that  those  people"  (meaning  Governdr  Semple 
and  the  persons  with  him)  "  went  out  to  attack  them,"' 
(meaning  the  half-breeds,)  "  and  met  their  fate."  The  said 
Alexander  M'Donell  asked  the  saidM'Gillis,  (who had  come 
up  with  the  said  M'Leod,)  what  his  plan  for  the  destruction 
of  the  settlement  at  Red  River  had  been ;  the  said  M'Gillis 
answered,  that  his  plan  was  to  attack  the  fort  (meaning  Fort 
Douglas)  immediately,  to  which  the  said  Alexander  M'Do- 
nell replied,  "  If  you  had  they  would  have  killed  one  half 
"of  you."  The  said  M'Gillis  then  asked  the  said  Alex- 
ander M'Donell  what  had  been  his  plan,  to  which  the  said 
Alexander  M'Donell  answered,  it  was  to  starve  the  fort, 
(meaning  Fort  Douglas,)  as  they  (meaning  the  persons  in 
the  fort)  had  only  four  bags  of  pemican.  The  conversa- 
tion between  the  said  persons  afterwards  turned  upon  Lord 
Selkirk's  intention  to  visit  Red  River  by  the  way  of  Fond 
du  Lac,  when  the  said  Alexander  M'Donell  said,  "  The 
"  half-breeds  will  take  bin  while  he  is  asleep,  early  in  the 
"  morning."  And  he  afterwards  said,  "  They"  (meaning, 
as  the  deponent  understood,  the  North- West  Company,) 
*'  can  get  Bostonois"  (meaning  an  Indian  of  the  half-breed, 
well  known  for  his  crimes)  "  to  shoot  him."  In  the  course 
of  the  same  conversation,  the  deponent  heard  the  word 
"  stab'*^  used,  but  cannot  say  with  reference  to  whom. 
The  next  morning  the  deponent  told  what  he  bad  heard 
to  the  said  Patrick  Corcoran,  and  afterwards  mentioned  it 
to  Michael  Heden,  both  of  them  his  fellow-prisoners. 

(Signed)  JOHN  BOURKE. 

Sworn  at  Montreal,  I6lh  day  of 
September,  1816,  before  me, 

(Signed)  THOMAS  M'CORD,  J.  P. 


I'jt.JiiitIK*'' 


■■'•■mm^'^mi''^--^ 


APPENDIX. 


[  C.    C.  ] 


Ir 


Deposition  of  Michael  Heden. 

Montreal, )  Michael  Heden,  late  of  Fort  Douglas  at 
to  wit  :  5  Red  River,  in  the  territories  of  the  IIud«ioii's 
Bay  Company,  in  North  America,  now  at  the  city  of  Mon- 
treal, in  the  Province  of  Lower  Canada,  blacksmith,  ma- 
keth  oath,  that  he  was  engaged  on  the  first  day  of  June,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  twelve,  to  serve  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  in  North  America,  as  a  blacksmith,  and  in 
that  year  went  to  Hudson's  Bay,  where  he  remained  till  the 
following  year,  when  he  went  to  the  settlement  formed  by 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk  at  Red  River  aforesaid,  and  remained 
there  until  the  said  settlement  was  broken  up  and  destroy- 
ed by  the  agents  and  servants  of  the  North-West  Company, 
in  the  summer  of  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
fifteen,  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  returned  with 
new  supplies,  and  another  body  of  settlers,  to  Red  River 
aforesaid.  That  in  the  latter  end  of  the  winter,  and  in  the 
spring  of  the  present  year,  information  was  received  at  Fort 
Douglas  aforesaid,  from  Indians  and  Canadians,  that  the 
North- West  Company  were  collecting  Indians  of  the  half- 
breed,  being  the  bastard  children  of  the  partners  and  ser- 
vants of  that  company  by  Indian  women,  from  their  diffe- 
rent trading  posts,  and  were  forming  them  into  a  body  at 
their  trading  post,  called  Fort  Qui  Jppelle,  which  was  then 
under  the  charge  of  Alexander  M'Donell,  one  of  the  part- 
ners in  the  said  North-West  Company,  assisted  by  one 
Grant  and  one  Fraser,  both  of  them  Indians  of  the  said 
half-breed,  and  clerks  in  the  service  of  the  said  Company, 
for  the  purpose  of  attacking  and  destroying,  a  second  time, 
the  settlement  at  Red  River  aforesaid  ;  and  this  informa- 
tion was  received  through  so  many  channels  as  to  leave  no 
doubt  of  its  truth  ;  an  almost  constant  watch  was,  there- 
fore, kept  up,  night  and  day,  to  discover  the  approach  of 
any  of  the  parties  of  the  North- West  Company. — On  the 
nineteenth  day  of  June,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
a  man  in  the  watch-house  called  out  to  Governor  Semple, 
that  a  party  of  horsemen  were  approaching  the  said  settle- 
ment. The  governor  then  went  into  the  watch-house,  in 
order  to  observe  them  with  a  spy-glass,  and  two  persons, 
Mr.  Rogers,  a  gentleman  from  England,  and  Mr.  Bourke, 
a  store-keeper  in  the  service  of  the  colony,  accompanied 
him,  who  also  examined  the  party  with  a  spy-glass. — It  was 
then  distinctly  perceived  by  all,  that  a  party  of  horsemen, 
armed,  were  approaching  the  settlement  in  a  hostile  man* 


t  • 


>  % 


.jr*-**,^^  .,,»/!,;,•■ 


hi 


APPENOIX. 


i 


nor,  and  in  consequence,  Governor  Scmpic  dcjiircd  twenty 
of  his  men  to  follow  him  towards  the  horsemen  to  ascertain 
Mrhat  was  their  object.  This  hostile  party  passed  Fort 
Douglas,  and  entered  the  settlement  below  it,  for  the  pur- 
pose, it  would  appear,  of  making  the  settlers  prisoners,  and 
tliey  had  already  taken  some  of  them,  when  observing  the 
approach  of  Governor  Scmpic  and  his  men,  they  immedi- 
ately galloped  towards  them,  and  surrounded  the  governor 
and  his  party.  They  then  sent  forward  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  speak  with  Governor  Semple,  and  one  Boucher,  the 
person  selected  for  the  purpose,  a  Canadian,  the  son  of  a 
tavern  keeper  at  Montreal,  who  was  then  a  clerk  or  engagfy 
in  the  service  of  the  North-Wcst  Company,  advanced  in 
front  of  his  party,  and  rode  up  to  Governor  Semple. 

When  he  came  up  to  the  governor,  he  desired,  in  an  in- 
solent tone,  to  know  what  he  was  about.  The  governor  de- 
siicd  to  know  what  he,  the  said  Boucher,  and  his  party 
wanted.  The  said  Boucher  snid  he  wanted  bis  fort.  The 
governor  desired  him  to  go  to  his  fort; — whereupon  the 
said  Boucher  ^aid,  addressing  himself  to  the  said  governor,' 
"  Why  did  you  destroy  our  fort,  you  damned  rascal  ?"  the 
governor  then  laid  hold  of  the  bridle  of  the  said  Boucher's 
horse,  saying,  "  Scoundrel,  do  you  tell  me  so?" — When 
these  words  were  uttered,  the  »aid  Boucher  jumped  from 
his  horse,  and  a  shot  was  instantly  fired  by  one  of  the  party 
of  horsemen,  by  which  a  person  of  the  name  of  Holt,  a  clerk 
in  the  service  of  the  colony,  who  accompanied  the  gover- 
nor, and  was,  then  standing  near  him,  was  killed.  The  said 
Boucher  then  ran  to  his  party,  and  another  shot  was  fired 
from  the  same  quarter,  by  which  Governor  Semple  was 
wounded.  When  the  said  governor  received  his  wound, 
he  immediately  cried  out  to  his  men, ''  Do  what  you  can  to 
"  take  care  of  yourselves  ;"  but  the  persons  who  accompa- 
nied him,  instead  of  seeking  their  own  safety,  crowded 
round  the  governor  to  a.^certain  what  injury  hchad  received, 
and  while  they  were  thus  collected,  in  a  small  body  in  the 
centre,  the  party  of  horsemen,  which  had  formed  a  circle 
around  them,  fired  a  general  volley  amongst  them,  by  which 
the  greater  part  were  killed  on  the  spot.  The  persons  who 
remained  standing,  took  off  their  hats  and  called  for  mercy, 
but  in  vain ;  the  murdeiers  galloped  upon  them,  and  stab- 
bed with  spears,  and  shot,  nearly  all  of  them. — The  depo- 
nent escaped  in  the  confusion  to  the  river  side,  and  crossed 
the  river  in  a  canoe  with  one  Daniel  M'Kay,  who  had  also 
the  good  fortune  to  escape,  and  they  both  reached  the  fort 
in  the  night. — One  Michael  Kilkenny,  and  George  Suther- 
jand,  also  escaped  at  the  same  time  by  swimming  over  the 


I' 


|f. 


APPENDIX. 


Ivii 


river,  and  the  lives  of  two  other  of  the  penonn  who  had 
accumpnnicd  Governor  Semplc,  namely,  Anthony  M'Do- 
nell,  and  John  Pritchard,  were  spared  at  the  intercession 
of  homo  of  the  murderers,  to  whom  they  were  known  ;  all 
the  others,  twenty-two  in  number,  were  murdered  on  the 
spot,  and  among  these  were  Mr.  Rogers,  Mr.  Wilkinson, 
secretary  to  the  sovernor,  Mr.  Holt,  Mr  White,  surgeon 
to  the  colony,  and  Mr.  M'Lean,  the  principal  settler  in  the 
colony.     The  persons  by  whom  this  atrocious  massacre 
was   perpetrated,  were  bastard  half-Indians  above-men« 
tioned,  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company,  and 
their  Canadian  servants,  headed  by  two  or  three  of  their 
clerks ;  the  whole  party,  between  sixty  and  seventy  in 
number,  having  been  collected  from  various  quarters  at 
the  aforesaid  trading  post,  called  Qui  jippette,  and  armed, 
equipped,  and  despatched  from  that  post  under  the  orders 
of  Alexander  M'Donell  above-named.     Among  the  party, 
the  deponent  only  saw  three  Indians,  and  he  did  not  see 
any  of  these  fire  a  shot,  although  he  had  his  eyes  upon 
them  a  principal  part  of  (he  time.     These  three  Indians, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  deponent,  must  have  been  induced  to 
accompany  the  party,  from  motives  other  than  that  of  hos- 
tility towards  the  settlement  or  settlers,  as  the  Indians  of 
the  different  nations,  inhabiting  and  frequenting  the  coun- 
try at  Red  River,  had  always  evinced  the  most  friendly 
disposition  towards  the  settlement,  and  lived  on  the  best 
terms  with  the  settlers.     Before,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
massacre  just  mentioned,  there  was  an  encampment  of 
Indians  of  the  Sautoux  and  Crce  nations,  opposite  to  Fort 
Douglas : — these  Indians  not  Only  took  no  part  with  the 
servants  of  the  North- West  Company  in  the  perpetration 
of  the  massacre,  but  openly  lamented  it,  and  went  out  with 
carts  to  bring  in  the  dead  bodies,  and  assisted  in  burying 
those  which  they  brought  in,  having  been  prevented  by 
fear  from  bringing  all  of  them.     Those  which  they  did  not 
bring  in  remained  on  the  ground,  a  prey  for  the  wild  beasts. 
This  deponent  afterwards  saw  many  of  the  said  Indians, 
men  and  women,  wring  their  hands  in  distress  and  shed 
tears  at  the  departure  of  the  settlers.     In  the  morning 
succeeding  the  massacre,  the  said  Grant,  a  clerk  as  afore- 
said, in  the  service  of  the  said  North-West  Company,  with 
one  Fraser,  and  one  Bourrassa,  both  clerks  in  the  same 
service,  with  sixteen  or  seventeen  men,  (two  or  three  of 
whom  were  Canadians,  and  the  rest  bastard  half-Indians, 
also  in  the  service  of  the  said  Company,  being  part  of  the 
persons  by  whom  the  murders  of  the  preceding  day  had 
been  committed,)  came  to  Fort  Douglas,  after  the  manner  of 


.Jt; 


■  iL 


..  :.%■■:- 


jm 

m' 

1 

1 

§ 

1 

Iviii 


APPENDIX. 


conqucron,  Hiid  iiuisted  upon  the  immediate  abundonment 
oftliv  fort  and  settlement.  Although  the  surviving  scttlerH 
were  told  thut  they  might  carry  away  all  their  private 
property,  while  thut  of  Lord  Selkirk  only  should  be  con- 
sidered as  prize,  yet  almost  every  thing  belonging  to  the 
private  ruinilici)  whs  in  efTect  plundered.  And  this  depo- 
nent was  even  robbed  of  his  blankets  and  clothes.  A 
written  paper,  of  the  nature  of  a  capitulation,  wait  drawn 
up  between  the  oaid  Grant  and  Mr.  M'Donell,  who  had 
then  the  care  of  the  settlement,  and  this  paper,  as  the  de- 
ponent was  informed,  and  believes,  was  signed  by  the  said 
1 1  rant,  as  clerk  to  the  North- West  Company.  Two  days 
al'tcr,  all  the  settlers,  men,  women,  and  children,  to  the 
number  of  two  hundred  souls,  among  whom  the  deponent 
was,  were  compelled  by  the  same  party  to  embark  in 
boati^,  to  be  conveyed  to  the  sea-coast.  On  their  second 
day's  journey  towards  Hudson's  Bay,  they  were  met  by 
Archibald  Norman  M'Leod,  Km|.  a  partner  in  the  North- 
West  Company,  one  of  the  house  of  M'Tavish,  M'Gilli^ 
vrays  and  Co.  and  also  a  justice  of  the  peace  fur  the  In- 
dian territories,  with  nine  or  ten  canoes,  and  a  battcau, 
with  two  pieces  of  artillery  which  had  been  some  time  be- 
fore iitolon  and  carried  away  from  Lord  Selkirk's  settle- 
ment at  Red  River,  and  having  under  his  command  ninety 
or  one  hundred  men,  all  armed.  When  the  party  with  (he 
baid  M'I.eod  approached  the  boatn  in  which  the  settlers 
were,  tlioy  set  up  the  Indian  war-whoop,  and  the  said 
M'Leod  inquired  whether  the  *'  Rascal  and  scoundrel 
Robertson"  (meaning  a  gentleman  in  the  service  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  by  whom  the  settlement,  after  its 
destruction  in  the  sununcr  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  liflcen,  had  been  re-established,)  was  in  the  boats,  and 
being  told  he  was  not,  he  then  inijuired  whether  Mr.  Sem- 

Sle  was  in  them,  and  was  informed  of  his  fate. — The  said 
I'Lcod  afterwards  compelled  all  the  settlers  to  go  ashore, 
and  caused  them  to  be  detained  there  two  days,  although 
they  had  not  provisions  suflicicnt  for  a  quarter  part  of  their 
journey  to  Hudson's  Bay,  and  during  this  detention  caused 
their  baggage  to  be  searched,  and  every  article  they  had 
to  be  examined.  In  this  search  the  said  settlers  were 
plundered  by  the  persons  acting  under  the  orders  of  the 
said  M'Leoil,  of  some  trunks  and  papers  which  had  be- 
longed to  Governor  Semple,  and  some  bonks  of  accounts 
belonging  to  the  colony,  which  some  of  the  said  settlers 
had  found  means  to  carry  off  with  them.  The  said  M'Leod 
questioned  the  deponent  as  to  the  particulars  of  what  had 
happened  at  Red  River,  and,  after  hearing  them,  said, 
"  they  arc  all  lies,"  and  that  he  would  have  the  deponent 


■HfMrn-  m>  -n. . 


•,,py^ 


APPENDIX. 


lix 


uiiilonmcnt 
iiig  Hcttlei-H 

r  private 
[lid  DC  con- 
ning to  the 
this  dcpo- 
lollies.  A 
was  drawn 
I  who  had 

as  the  dc- 
i\  the  said 

Two  days 
ren,  to  the 

deponent 
lenibiirk  in 
iicir  second 
iTC  met  by 
the  Nortli- 
h,  M'Gilli. 
for  the  !n- 
I  a  hattcau, 
ne  lime  hc- 
iik's  setlle- 
land  nincly 
rty  with  the 
the  settlers 
id  the  Raid 
I  scoundrel 
■vice  of  the 
int,  after  its 
;ht  hundred 
:  boats,  and 
ir  Mr.  Sem- 
.— The  said 
>  go  ashore, 
rs,  although 
)art  of  their 
tion  caused 
le  they  had 
tilers  were 
rders  of  the 
ich  had  be- 
of  accounts 
said  settlers 
aid  M'Leod 
[)f  what  had 
them,  said, 
c  deponent 


taken  to  Fort  William,  and  put  in  ironi,  to  make  him  tell 
the  truth,  ilv  then  put  into  the  deponent^s  hands  a  paper, 
purportinjB;  to  be  a  lubpflena,  requiring  the  deponent  toap- 
|>eur  and  give  evidence  against  John  Bourke,  at  Montreal, 
of  which  paper  a  copy  is  subjoined,  and  told  the  deponent 
that  under  tliat  paper  he  would  be  conveyed  a  prisoner  to 
Montreal.  The  said  M'Lcod,  at  the  same  time,  made 
four  other  persons  prisoners,  viz,  Daniel  M'Kay,  John 
Dourke,  John  Pritchard,  and  Patrick  Corcoran,  and  suf- 
fered  all  the  others  to  proceed  on  their  journey  to  Hudson's 
Bay.  While  the  boats,  conveying  the  settlers,  were  de- 
tained as  aforesaid,  a  part  of  the  murderers,  Canadians 
and  half-Indians,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  massacre 
of  Governor  Semple  and  his  party  as  aforesaid,  and  among 
the  number  the  above  named  Fraser,  came  down  from 
Fort  Douglas  to  meet  the  said  M'Lcod,  and  were  received 
by  him  with  open  arms,  and  treated  with  liquors.  These 
murderers  were  immediately  employed  by  tlie  said  M'Leod 
to  guard  the  deponent  and  the  others  whom  he  had  de- 
tained as  prisoners,  and  to  convey  them  as  far  as  Point 
a  Foutre,  while  the  said  M'Leod  went  further  on,  for  the 
purpose,  as  this  deponent  believes,  of  visiting  Fort  Dou- 
glas aforesaid,  and  making  arrangements  there.  That  the 
deponent,  and  the  other  prisoners  with  him,  remained 
two  days  at  Point  a  Foutre,  in  the  custody  of  the  said  mur- 
derers, among  whom  were  one  Baudry,  and  one  De 
Lorme ;  and,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  the  said 
M'Leod  arrived,  and  taking  the  command  of  the  whole 
party,  caused  the  deponent  and  his  companions,  some  in 
irons,  and  some  unfettered,  to  be  conveyed  to  a  trading 
post  of  the  North  West  Company,  called  Fort  William. 
That  the  deponent  heard  John  Bourke,  one  of  the  prison- 
ers conveyed  with  him  as  aforesaid,  relate  some  particulars 
of  a  conversation  which  took  place  between  some  partners 
in  the  North-West  Company  which  he  had  overheard 
previous  to  their  arrival  at  Fort  William,  while  those  en- 
gaged in  the  conversation  thought  him  asleep.  That  by 
this  conversation  it  appeared  to  this  deponent  that  there 
was  a  settled  design  in  those  partners  to  destroy  the  Earl 
of  Selkirk,  who  was  then  on  his  way  to  the  late  settlement 
at  Red  Kiver,  and  had  halted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Fort 
William,  and  learning  that  one  Chalelain,  who  was  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  Lord  Selkirk,  and  going  up  with 
him,  was  then  with  his  men,  on  an  Island  about  seven 
miles  from  Fort  William,  this  deponent  became  extremely 
anxious  to  convey  to  Lord  Selkirk,  through  Chatelain,  in- 
telligejice  of  his  danger.  The  deponent,  therefore,  found 
mean?,  during  a  storm,  in  a  small  canoe,  and  at  great  risk, 


\. 


,'1 " 


U\ 


It 


APPEITDIX. 


to  visit  Chatelain,  with  whom  he  had  some  communica- 
tion. That,  previous  to  this  visit,  no  warrant  of  comnait- 
ment  had  been  issued  against  the  deponent,  but  when  it 
became  known  that  he  had  had  a  communication  with 
Chatelain,  he  was  abused  and  ill-treated,  and  a  warrant 
was  made  out  against  him  by  William  M'Gillivray,  Esq. 
the  principal  partner  in  the  North- West  Company,  one  of 
the  house  of  M'Tavish,  M'Gillivrays  and  Co.  and  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  the  Indian  territories,  under  which  the 
deponent  has  been  brought  down  and  lodged  in  the  gaol  at 
Montreal,  where  he  now  is.  That  after  the  said  warrant 
was  signed  by  the  said  William  M'Gillivray,  the  deponent 
was  confined  in  a  small  room,  in  which  there  was  a  privy, 
without  a  window,  and  into  which  no  light  was  received, 
except  through  crevices  between  the  logs  composing  the 
walls  of  the  said  building,  and  into  this  provisions  were 
brought  to  him,  and  laid  on  the  seat  of  the  privy,  to  be 
used  by  him  as  a  table.  In  this  confinement  the  deponent 
was  kept,  in  the  hottest  part  of  summer,  during  ten  days, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  was  put  into  a  canoe, 
to  be  conveyed  to  Montreal.  That  while  the  deponent 
was  at  Fort  William  aforesaid,  he  saw  some  of  the  murder- 
ers, who  had  come  down  with  him,  well  received  by  part- 
ners in  the  North- West  Company,  who  were  then  there. 

(Signed)        MICHAEL  HEDEN. 
Sworn  at  Montreal,  16th  September, 
1816,  before  me, 

(Signed)         THOMAS  M'CORD,  J.  P. 


Here  follows  a  copy  of  the  paper  purporting  to  be  a  subpana, 

above  referred  to. 
Indian  Territory. 

George  the  Third,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of  the  Uni- 
ted Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  kc. 
To  Patrick  Cochrane  and  Michael  Heden, 

We  command  you,  and  every  of  you,  that  all  business 
being  laid  aside,  and  all  excuses  ceasing,  you  do,  in  your 
proper  persons,  appear  before  the  Justices  of  our  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  in  and  for  the  distric'  of  Montreal,  assigned 
and  appointed  by  an  Act  of  the  Imperial  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  to  hear  and  determine  ail  crimes  ai^d  offences  com- 
mitted in  the  said  Indian  Territories,  at  the  Term  of  the  said 
Court,  to  be  holden  in  the  City  of  Montreal,  in  the  District 
of  Montreal,  in  the  Province  of  Lower  Canada,  on  the  First 
Day  of  September  next,  at  the  hour  of  ten  in  the  forenoon, 
to  testify  all  and  lingular  those  things  which  you  or  any  of 
you  know,  concernmg  a  certain  accusation  againet  J.  P. 


p 


APPENDIX. 


Ixl 


Bouikd,  for  Felony :  And  this  you  und  every  of  you  are  in 
no  wise  to  omit,  under  the  Penalty  of  one  hundred  Pounds, 
Halifax  currency,  and  all  other  Penalties  by  law  inflicted 
for  such  neglect: — Witness  ArchiUild  Norman  M'Leod, 
Esq.  one  of  the  justices  assigned  to  keep  the  peace,  &c.  in 
and  for  the  said  Indian  Territory.  Given  at  Fort  Alex  in- 
der,  the  Ninth  Day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  One 
Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Sixteen,  and  in  the  Fifty- 
Sixth  Year  of  His  Majesty's  Reign. 

(Signed)  A.  N.  M'LEOD,  J.  P.  J.  T. 


[D.D.] 

Letter  from  Mr.  Simon  M'Gillivray,  to  the  Right  Honourable  Earl 
Bathurst,  ^c.  ^c.  ^c. 

Montreal,  June  I9th,  1815. 

My  Lord, 

I  am  induced  to  take  the  liberty  of  address- 
ing this  letter  to  your  Lordship,  in  consequence  of  a  com- 
munication lately  made  by  the  Government  of  this  province 
to  niy  brother,  relative  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's  .  <?ttlers  on 
the  Ked  River,  and  the  suspicions  which  his  Lordship  la- 
bours to  excite  against  the  North-West  Company,  of  insti- 
gating the  Indians  to  hostile  proceedings  against  them. 

I  beg  leave  to  enclose  to  your  Lordship  a  copy  of  the 
communication  referred  to,  being  a  confidential  letter  from 
the  Adjutant  General,  written  by  orderof  Sir  Gordon  Drum- 
mond,*  together  with  a  copy  of  my  brother's  answer,  and 
further,  I  beg  leave  to  ^-ufer  to  the  communication  address- 
ed to  Mr.  Goulbourne,  by  Messrs.  M'Tavish,  Fraser  &  Co. 
and  Messrs.  Inglis,  Ellice  &i  Co.  of  London,  on  the  1 8th 
March  last,  in  answer  to  the  letter  written  by  him  to  the 
North-West  Company  on  the  2d  of  that  month. 

I  certainly  entertained  hopes  that  our  statements  in  that 
communication, together  with  the  verbal  explanation  which 
I  had  the  honour  to  submit  to  your  Lordship  before  I  left 
London,  would  have  removed  from  your  Lordship's  mind 
any  impression  unfavourable  to  the  North-West  Company, 
which  might  have  been  made  by  the  Fiarl  of  Selkirk's  im-  , 
putations ;  and  I  still  venture  to  hope  that  this  is  the  case, 
for  I  am  fully  persuaded,  that  without  evidence  to  support 
such  heavy  accusations  as  Lord  Selkirk  docs  not  scruple  to 
bring  ai^ainst  the  North-West  Company,  your  Lordship 

*  See  the  letter,  page  57. 

h  h  » 


h^, 


liii 


APPENDIX. 


f€ 


will  not  entertain  them  ;  and  as  I  know  these  accusations  to 
be  utterly  unfounded,  and  consequently,  that  no  evidence 
entitled  to  credit  can  be  brought  forward  in  support  of 
them,  I  trust  your  Lordship  is,  or  very  shortly  will  be  sa- 
tisfied, that  the  North-West  Company  have  been  most  un- 
justly calumniated.  The  facts  relative  to  Lord  Selkirk's 
colony  have  already  been  sufficiently  stated  to  your  Lord- 
ship, and  also  the  facts,  that  in  its  infancy  the  settlers  were 
preserved  from  actual  starvation  solely  by  the  means  of 
subsistence  afforded  by  the  North- West  Company.  This 
conduct,  so  different  to  that  imputed  to  the  company  by 
Lord  Selkirk,  is,  I  conceive,  of  itself  a  sufficient  refutation  of 
his  charges,  and  it  certainly  merited  a  very  different  return 
from  what  has  been  made  :  for  1  have  to  inform  your  Lord- 
ship that  in  addition  to  the  calumnies  which  have  been  so 
»ndv;s;ti  iousiy  propagated  against  us  in  England,  it  has  been 
attempted  to  use  this  colony  as  an  engine  for  the  injury  of 
our  trade  in  this  country,  and  I  presume  it  is  in  anticipation 
of  the  charges  of  violence  and  aggression  which  we  have  to 
bring  against  his  Lordship's  agents,  it  is  now  attempted  to 
excite  a  prejudice  against  us,  and  to  make  the  party  who  are 
really  attacked  and  injured,  appear  to  be  the  aggressors. 

In  the  spring  of  1814,  Mr.  M'Donell,  Lord  Selkirk's  prin- 
cipal agent  at  the  colony,  and  whose  proclamation,  styHng 
himself  Governor  of  Ossiniboia  has  already  been  laid  before 
your  Lordship,  did,  in  virtue  of  this  pretended  authority, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  the  settlers,  whose  numbers  had, 
by  successive  importations,  been  greatly  increased,  forcibly 
sci/cd  and  took  possession  of  the  provisions  which  had  been 
collected  during  the  preceding  winter  by  the  North-West 
Company's  servants,  and  which  provisions  were  as  usual 
deposited  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River,  for  the  use  of  the 
people  coming  from  the  interior  of  the  continent  to  our 
general  rendezvous  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior ;  these 
provisions  were  indispensably  requisite  not  merely  for  the 
transport  of  the  Company's  property,  but  for  the  subsistence 
of  the  persons  employed  therein,  and  the  object  of  the  sei- 
zure was  evident,  for  if  it  had  ultimately  succeeded,  the 
communication  of  the  North-Wcst  Company  with  the  inte- 
rior must  have  been  cut  off",  the  consequence  of  which  would 
have  been  most  ruinous  ;  for  the  people  from  the  interior 
could  not  have  brought  out  to  Lake  Superior  their  returns 
of  furs,  nor  received  their  usual  supplies  for  the  ensuing 
winter  ;  therefore,  they  must  in  all  probability  have  perish- 
ed, or  at  all  events,  they  must  have  abandoned  the  property 
which  was  in  their  charge,  and  dispei-sed  among  the  Indians 
tn  search  of  Tood.     The  persons  in  charge  of  these  pi'ovi- 


'M 


'»s,  "W, 


wl^L^^^JI^^^^-, 


:2t::£S 


^■"•^mi-fr  -'•; 


iisations  to 
1  evidence 
support  of 
will  be  sa- 
k  most  un> 
d  Selkirk's 
|rour  Lord- 
ttlers  were 
s  means  of 
iny.     This 
jmpany  by 
^futation  of 
rent  return 
your  Lord- 
ive  been  so 
it  has  been 
\e  injury  of 
anticipation 
we  have  to 
tempted  to 
rty  who  are 
jgressors. 
kirk's  prin- 
ion,  styling 
1  laid  before 
authority, 
imbers  had, 
ed,  forcibly 
;h  had  been 
'^orth-West 
re  as  usual 
e  use  of  the 
ent  to  our 
rior ;  these 
rely  for  the 
subsistence 
;  of  the  sei- 
eeded,  the 
th  the  inte- 
'hich  would 
the  interior 
leir  returns 
the  ensuing 
lave  perish- 
le  property 
the  Indians 
hese  pi'ovi- 


APPENDIX. 


Ixiii 


bions  having  no  apprehensions  of  any  violence,  were  in  the 
first  instance  taken  by  surprise,  and  the  principal  seizure 
made  before  any  idea  of  such  an  attempt  was  entertained, 
else  it  would  have  been  their  duty  to  defend  their  charge, 
and  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  to  resist  force  by  force,  as  much 
as  it  would  have  been  the  duty  of  any  individual  to  defend 
his  bouse  or  his  person  against  a  robber.  They  were  how- 
ever inferior  in  numbers  to  M'Donell's  people,  and  they 
remained  quiet  until  the  arrival  of  the  people  from  the  in- 
terior, for  whose  subsistence  the  provisions  had  been  col- 
lected ;  when  this  took  place,  the  North-West  Company's 
people  far  out-numbered  the  M'Donell'f  people,  including 
the  settlers  and  the  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
but  they  committed  no  act  of  violence  or  retaliation  ;  they 
only  stated  that  they  must  have  their  provisions,  and  that 
they  had  the  means  of  takiitg  them  by  force,  if  necessary. 
Upon  this  occasion  the  Indians  who  had  heard  of  the  seizure 
of  our  provisions,  came  to  tfie  assistance  of  the  traders,  and 
I  enclose  to  your  Lordship  a  copy  of  the  speech  which 
their  principal  chief  delivered  from  his  tribe,  and  by  which 
your  Lordship  will  see  that  their  assistance  was  refused. 
The  North-West  Company's  people,  however,  only  receiv- 
ed a  part  of  the  provisions  which  had  been  seized,  and  they 
submitted  to  leave  a  part  in  M'Douell's  possession,  waving 
at  the  same  time  the  right  he  assumed,  and  the  necessary 
authority  under  which  he  presumed  to  act,  to  be  investi- 
gated elsewhere,  and  the  necessary  legal  measures  for  that 
purpose  are  in  contemplation. 

These  facts,  my  Lord,  do  not  rest  upon  vague  asPtirtions, 
or  upon  the  authority  of  unknown  correspondents, ,  i\i  a  as 
them  quoted  by  Lord  Selkirk  in  his  letter  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company, — they  are  substantiated  by  aifiidavits  taken 
before  the  magistrates  appointed  under  the  act  of  Parlia- 
ment (43  Geo.  111.  cap.  138)  for  extending  tb^  jurisdiction 
of  the  courts  of  justice  in  this  province  to  thv-  Vidian  terri- 
tories in  the  interior,  and  upon  my  return  to  England  I  hope 
to  have  the  honour  of  laying  before  your  Lordship  copies 
of  these  affidavits  duly  authenticated,  as  well  as  other  do- 
cuments which  may  tend  to  throw  light  upon  the  subject. 

In  regard  to  Lord  Selkirk's  colony,  I  have  always  been 
of  opinion  that  the  attempt  to  establish  it  would  ultimately 
lead  to  fatal  quarrels  between  the  Indians  and  settlers  ;  and 
as  an  humble  individual  I  used  every  endeavour  in  my 
power  to  disseminate  this  opinion  among  my  countrymen 
in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  being  misled  by  his  Lordship's  illusive  ud- 
vcrtisenents,  one  of  which  has  already  been  laid  before 
your  Lordship. 


*C 


M 


Ml 

mi 


ri 


I 


■t-^WV**-',- 


Ixiv 


APPENDIX. 


Ill 


My  connections  with  the  Norlh-West  Company  gave 
me  the  means  of  obtaining  correct  information,  and  experi- 
ence has  only  justified  the  opinion  I  was  at  first  led  to 
form ;  but  it  is  surely  unnecessary  to  point  out  to  your 
Lordship  the  distinction  between  an  opinion  that  the  Indi- 
ans would  ultimately  destroy  the  colony,  and  an  intention 
to  instigate  them  to  the  massacre  of  my  countrymen.  The 
same  opinion  1  still  entertain,  and  it  is  strengthened  by  the 
violent  and  ignorant  conduct  of  Lord  Selkirk's  agents. 
The  massacre  of  my  deceived  countrymen  on  the  Red  Ri- 
ver I  consider  an  evil  by  no  means  improbable,  but  the  idea 
of  instigating  so  horrid  a  deed,  I  do  for  myself,  and  on  be- 
half of  my  connections,  most  solemnly  and  indignantly 
deny. — And  I  hope  we  are  too  well  known  to  render  the 
denial  necessary. 

I  trust  your  Lordship  will  pardon  the  freedom  with  which, 
upon  this  occasion,  1  have  ventured  to  express  myself.  Im- 
putations such  as  those  which  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  attempts 
to  fasten  upon  the  North- West  Company,  cannot  but  rouse 
the  indignant  feeling  of  any  honourable  man  ,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  reply  to  such  calumnious  accusations  in  mode- 
rate terms  :  for  Lord  Selkirk's  rank,  the  individuals  com- 
prising the  Norih  West  Company  entertain  proper  respect ; 
but  when  he  condescends  to  become  their  rival  as  a  trader, 
they  must  endeavour  to  meet  him  or  his  agents  on  equal 
terms  ;  and  if  instead  of  fair  commercial  emulation  and  en- 
terprise, violence  and  calumny  are  employed  against  them, 
I  trust  the  impartiality  of  his  Majesty's  Government,  and  the 
justice  of  their  own  cause,  will  always  enable  them  to  re- 
sist the  one,  and  refute  ihe  other. 

In  concluding,  I  beg  leave  to  mention  one  circumstance, 
which  may  probably  merit  your  Lordship's  consideration. 
The  settlers,  by  proceeding  up  beyond  the  Forks  of  the 
Red  River,  have  got  to  the  southward  of  the  latitude  of  49o  ; 
so  that  if  the  Hue  due  west  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  is 
to  be  the  boundary  with  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
if,  contrary  to  my  expectation,  Lord  Selkirk's  colony 
should  continue  to  flourish,  it  will  not  be  a  British,  but  an 
American  settlement,  unless  specially  excepted  in  the  ad- 
justment of  the  boundary. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
With  high  respect, 
My  Lord, 
,  Your  Lordship's  most  obedient, 

And  most  liiinible  Servant, 
(Signed)  SIMON  M'GILLIVRAY. 

To  the  Right  lion.  Earl  liatlmrst. 


"M  *<iW»JlkMMMl«MMiWW-- 


APPENDIX. 


Ixv 


any  gave 
d  experi- 
rst  led  to 
t  to  your 
:  the  Indi- 
intenlion 
en.  The 
led  by  the 
's  agents. 
J  Red  Ri- 
it  the  idea 
nd  on  be- 
dignantly 
inder  the 

ith  which, 
)rself.  Im- 
',  attempts 
:  but  rouse 
d  it  is  im- 
;  in  mode- 
luals  com- 
r  respect ; 
s  a  trader, 
on  equal 
n  and  en- 
inst  them, 
it,  and  the 
lem  to  re- 

umstance, 
deration. 
■ks  of  the 
e  of 49o  ; 
Woods  is 

3rica,  and 
colony 

sh,  but  an 

in  the  ad- 


ant, 
aVRAY. 


[  E.  E.  ] 

Deposition  of  John  Charles  Sayer. 

Bepork  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's 
justices,  assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district 
of  Upper  Canada,  and  uiso  in  the  Indian  territories  and 
parts  of  America  not  within  the  I  .  v.vinces  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Canada,  appeared  John  Charles  Saycr,  clerk  and 
interpreter  in  the  service  of  the  North-West  Cou.pany, 
who  being  duly  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  deposeth. 

That  he  was  stationed  at  the  fort,  or  trading-post  of  Lake 
la  Pluie,  last  June,  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Leith,  where 
Mr.  A.  N.  M'Leod arrived  from  Montreal,  along  with  seve- 
ral other  partners  of  the  North-West  Company,  on  their' 
way  to  Red  River.  That  at  the  time  of  their  arrival  a 
number  of  Indians  were  collected  near  the  post  for  the 
purposes  of  trade,  as  usual  at  that  season  of  the  year,  inclu- 
ding not  only  the  Indians  of  the  department  itself,  but  also 
others  from  Round  Lake,  and  Red  Cedar  Lake,  who  usu- 
ally trade  with  the  post  of  Fond  du  Lac.  That  in  the 
course  of  the  next  day  after  Mr.  M'Leod's  arrival,  the  de- 
ponent was  instructed  to  speak  privately  to  one  of  the  most 
considerable  of  these  Indians,  called  the  Round  Lake 
Chief,  and  to  learn  whether  he  was  disposed  to  go  witli  Mr. 
M'Leod  and  the  other  gentlemen  to  Red  liiver,  to  assist 
there  in  defending  the  rights  of  the  North-Wesl  Company. 
That  accordingly  he  did  converse  with  this  chief,  and  as- 
certained that  he  was  disposed  to  follow  them.  That  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  all  the  Indians  about  the 
place  were  invited  to  a  council  in  the  great  hall  of  the  fort, 
at  which  were  present,  Messrs.  Alexander  M'Kenzie,  Ro- 
bert Henry,  M'Murray,  and  Leith,  partners  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  Mr.  Charles  Grant,  a  clerk,  as  also 
Messrs.  Misani  and  Brumby,  olHcers  of  De  Meurou's  Re- 
giment, who  had  arrived  in  company  with  Mr.  M'Leod. 
That  the  deponent  was  instructed  to  prepare  three  kegs  of 
liquor,  with  a  proportional  quantity  of  tobacco  for  the  In- 
dians, and  that  when  these  were  ready  and  placed  before 
them,  he  was  instructed  hy  Mr.  M'Leod  to  make  a  speech 
to  the  Indians,  telling  them  tha  these  geiitlemcn  present 
were  going  to  Red  River  to  try  to  recover  their  fort,  and  to 
rescue  Mr.  Cameron,  and  would  be  glad  if  the  Indians 
would  follow  tlicm,  adding,  (hat  they  did  not  go  as  lighting 
characters,  but  they  v/eru  told  that  guns  were  placed  to 
prevent  them  from  passing,  and  that  ifthey  weic  attacked 
they  would  defend  themselves :  also,  (hat  they  had  expressed 


Ixvi 


APPENDIX. 


a  wish  to  hare  some  of  the  King's  officers  to  accompanj 
them,  and  that  Government  had  accordingly  granted  them 
the  two  officers  who  were  present,  upon  which  the  said 
Round  Lake  chief  answered  in  the  name  of  the  rest  of  the 
Indians,  expressing  their  attachment  to  the  traders  of  the 
North-West  Company,  and  that  they  were  ready  to  go 
wherever  they  desired  them,  and  accordingly  the  next  day 
the  said  chief,  with  sixteen  or  twenty  other  Indians,  set  out 
with  Mr.  M'Leod  for  Red  River.  The  deponent  observed, 
that  the  expressions  which  he  was  instructed  to  use  in  the 
speech,  were  such  as  the  Indians  would  certainly  under- 
stand as  implying  an  instruction  to  go  to  war  against  the 
opponents  of  the  North-West  Company. 

The  deponent  further  declares,  that  some  weeks  after 
this,  he  was  present  when  a  Canadian  of  the  name  of  Vin- 
cent Roy  delivered  to  Mr.  Daniel  M'Kenzie,  a  letter  di- 
rected to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  which  had  been  entrusted  to 
him  by  Miles  M'Donell,  Esq.  and  that  he  saw  Mr.  M'Ken- 
zie inclose  this  letter,  unopened,  to  the  agent  of  th^  North- 
West  Company,  at  Fort  William. 

(Signed)  JOHN  CHARLES  SAYER. 

Sworn  before  me,  at  Fort  William, 

on  the  8th  of  November,  1816, 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


[  F.  F.  ]  -    : 

."ijidaiit  by  George  Campbell. 

(Priuted  £t«]ni  the  copy  in  Appendix,  Nn.  VII.  of  "  A  Narrative  of 
Ot'  urrem.ts,"  it . 

George  Campbell,  late  of  Scotland,  in  the  parish  of 
Creich.  and  county  of  Sutherland,  deposeth,  Tliat  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thoii!>and  eight  hundred  and  thirteen, 
hearing  (-.at  L  •  d  Selkirk  was  establishing  a  colony  in  the 
North-^\  vst  Country  of  CJinada,  and  under-standing  that 
William  M'Dooald,  one  t  f  ord  Selkirk's  agent?,  had  arri- 
ved at  i  .  ura.  (a  small  village  in  the  county  of  Sutherland,) 
for  the  purpose  of  engaging  individuals  to  settle  in  said 
North-West  country  of  Canada,  went  to  inquire  into  the 
particulars  of  the  agreement. 

That  on  his  arrival  at  said  village  of  Bmra,  he  went  to 
the  lodgings  of  William  M'Doiiald,  and  after  breaking  (he 
subject  to  him,  was  informed  by  said  William  M'Donald,that 
on  his  arrival  at  Red  River,  iu  said  North-West  country  of 


^ 


APPENDIX. 


Ixvi'i 


company 
ted  them 
the  said 
est  of  the 
rs  of  the 
idy  to  go 
I  next  day 
18,  set  out 
observed, 
ise  in  the 
y  under- 
;ainst  the 

;eks  after 
le  of  Vin- 
letter  di- 
truslcd  to 
•.  M'Ken- 
h^  North- 

^YER. 


LP. 


ive  of 

parish  of 
iat  in  the 

thirteen, 
my  in  the 
ding  that 

had  arri- 

herland,) 

le  in  »aid 

into  the 

'.  went  to 
aking  the 
iiuld,that 
ountrv  of 


Canada,  upon  paying  the  sum  of  five  shillings  sterling  per 
acre,  he  would  be  put  in  immediate  possession  of  as  much 
land  as  he  should  require. 

That  any  one  of  the  settlers  who  could  not  pay  the  sta- 
ted sum  of  five  shillings  sterling  per  acre,  would  be  fur- 
nished with  the  like  quantity  for  the  rent  of  one  bushel  of 
wheat  per  acre  per  annum,  or  until  payment  at  the  rate 
aforesaid  should  be  made. 

That  upon  being  put  in  possession  of  said  land,  he  was  to 
receive  all  implements  of  husbandry,  live  stock,  &c.  neces- 
sary to  equip  a  husbandman,  without  exception. 

That  upon  being  thus  informed,  he  took  his  leave  of  said 
William  M'Donald,  (without  giving  him  any  decisive  an- 
swer,) and  returned  to  his  home,  in  the  parish  and  county 
aforesaid,  where  he  was  in  about  a  week  after  visited  by 
said  William  M'Donald. 

That  upon  conversing  some  time  with  him,  he  signed  a 
paper,  to  which  were  prefixed  the  names  of  those  already 
engage^l. 

That  upon  signing  this  paper,  he  conceives,  but  cannot 
assert  it  as  a  fact,  that  he  paid  said  William  M'Donald  two 
shillings  sterling,  but  is  positive  that  others  who  signed  it. 
actually  did  pay  two  shillings  sterling.* 

That  William  M'Donald  having  collected  a  few  signa- 
tures, he  took  his  departure  and  returned  to  Brora,  pre- 
viously telling  him  (this  deponent)  that  he  would  be  appri- 
zed of  his  Lordship's  arrival  in  Scotland. 

That  some  time  after  these  transactions,  fhe  cannot  be 
exact  to  the  period,)  he  was  informed  that  Lord  Selkirk  had 
arrived  in  Sutherlandshire,  and  with  a  view  to  meet  his 
Lordship,  went  to  Helmsdale,  parish  of  Loth,  and  county 
of  Sutherland. 

That  on  his  way  to  said  village,  he  met  his  Lordship  and 
agent,  Mr.  M'Lellan,  near  a  public-house,  on  their  way  to 
Donald  M'Kay's,  in  the  parish  of  Kleyne,  county  aforesaid. 

That  his  Lordship  having  opened  the  door  of  his  car- 
riage, spoke  to  him  (this  deponent)  on  the  subject  of  the 
agreement  he  had  formed  with  William  M'Donald  :  his 
Lordship  desired  him  to  accompany  them  to  Donald 
M' Kay's,  in  the  parish  of  Kleyne. 

That  in  their  route  they  stopped  at  Mr.  Ross's  dwelling- 


•  The  absunlity  of  this  deponent,  saying  he  coruxivet,  but  won't  ainerl  itasafact, 
that  In;  <^avc  ii  loiiplo  of  jhiilin!!;s  to  another  pirson,  and  attht  sanw  time,  takes  it 
\( positively  to  nuert  that  others  did  pnv  their  t>vo  shillings,  is  too  jt'"" 


: 


1. 

Mi 


upon  him"" 

hug!  Had  it  beun the  reverse,  one  might  have 


ilii'vi'd  him. 


f 


ikmn 


•ssssmsi 


Ixviii 


ArPENDIX. 


tj 


i 


house,  where,  leaving  tho  coach,  his  Lordship  proceeded 
on  horseback. 

That,  on  their  arrival  at  Donald  McKay's,  they  found  a 
number  of  persons  there  on  business  of  the  same  nature. 

That  his  Lordship,  having  dined,  convened  those  who 
were  present,  corroborating,  in  every  respect,  the  propo- 
sals of  Mr.  William  M'Donald,  and  shaking  hands  very 
cordially  with  almost  all  those  who  were  assembled. 

That  he  (this  deponent)  remained  at  Donald  McKay's 
about  three  hours,  when  his  Lordship  desired  him  to  go, 
and  prepare  himself  for  the  voyage,  giving  him  twenty  days 
to  arrange  his  affairs ;  which  he  did,  telling  his  Lordship 
that  he  would  return  to  Helmsdale  at  the  time  appointed. 
That  having  settled  his  family  concerns,  &c.  he  return- 
ed to  Helmsdale,  and  there  learned  that  his  Lordship  had 
gone  to  Stromness. 

That  having  staid  two  days  at  Helmsdale,  he,  in  company 
with  William  M'Donald,  (who  had  lodged  with  him  during 
their  stay  at  Helmsdale,)  proceeded  to  Stromness  in  a 
schooner,  where  they  arrived  in  two  days  from  the  time  of 
their  embarkation. 

That  in  Stromness  he  hired  lodgings,  and  William  M' Do- 
nald lodged  with  him ;  that  he  saw  his  Lordship  here 
(Stromness,)  and  paid  into  his  hands  the  sum  of  thirty 
guineas,  for  his  wife  and  child's  passage,  also  his  own  ;  for 
which  payment  he  received  a  .".ote  from  his  Lordship,  and 
which  he  has  now  in  possession.' 

That  he  also  deposited  in  his  Lordship's  hands,  the  sum 
of  forty-two  pounds  sterling,  (for  which  he  also  received  his 
Lordship's  note,)  as  payment  of  a  tract  of  land  ;  his  Lord- 
ship at  the  same  time  telling,  that  should  he  not  ^Ve  the 
land,  he  had  his  (Lord  Selkirk's)  full  permission  to  go  else- 
where. 

That  he  remained  fourteen  days  at  Stromness,  Cduring 
which  time,  no  conversation  of  importance  passed  between 
his  Lordship  and  him,)  when  he  and  others,  under  the  same 
lircumstances,  embarked  on  board  the  Prince  of  Witles 
(merchant  ship.) 

That  his  Lordship  came  on  board  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
and  told  him  and  others,  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  some 
of  them  to  keep  watch  in  their  turn,  to  prevent  sickness, 
which  might  occur  from  being  crowded  below. 

That,  previous  to  his  leaving  Stromness,  his  Lordship 

had  told  him  to  carry  a  gun  with  him,  as  he  would  require 

OIK'  lo  defend  himself  from  anj  attack  made  by  his  enemies. 

That  he  cannot  state  the  time  when  the  Prince  of  Wales 


^^.-r- 


APPENDIX. 


UU 


left  Stromness ;  but  states,  that  said  ship  arrired  at  Chur- 
chill Cove  in  the  season  autumn,  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirteen. 

That,  on  his  landing  at  the  Cove,  he  was  very  ill  provi- 
ded for,  being  under  the  necessity  of  laying  under  old  sails, 
and  his  provisions  at  the  same  time  exceedingly  bad  ;  and 
he  firmly  believes  it  to  be  the  effect  of  ill  treatment,  that 
a  number  of  the  colonists  died. 

That  his  Lordship  had  desired  him  (this  deponent)  to 
bring  neither  money,  clothes,  or  any  otlier  articles  neces- 
sary, for  that  he  could  procure  them  as  cheap  at  Red  River 
as  in  Sutherlnndshire. 

That  on  his  arrival  at  Churchill,  he  found  that  nothing 
could  be  purchased  but  with  ready  cash,  and  at  so  great  a 
price  that  he  was  surprised  j  he  having  paid  for  one  pound 
of  tobacco,  five  shillings  and  sixpence  sterling. 

That,  instead  of  the  allowance  of  English  provisions, 
such  as  labouring  men  are  accustomed  to  receive  in  Great 
Britain,  and  which  Lord  Selkirk  had  said  should  be  allow- 
ed him,  Mr.  Archibald  M'Donald,  one  of  his  Lordship's 
agents,  who  was  present  at  the  time  when  this  promise  was 
made,  issued  one  pound  of  oatmeal  and  half  a  partridge 
per  day,  to  each  man,  (with  the  same  allowance  for  a  wo- 
man and  two  children,)  together  <vith  eight  pounds  molas- 
ses, and  eight  pounds  damaged  pease,  for  every  mess  of 
twelve  men  per  week.* 

That  upon  demonstrating  to  Archibald  M'Donald  that 
such  was  not  the  kind  of  provisions  promised  by  his  Lord- 
ship in  his  (Archibald  M'Donald's)  presence,  Archibald 
M'Donald  answered  him,  that  he  ought  to  be  content  with 
what  he  got,  as  it  was  good  enough  for  him.  The  depo- 
nent also  states,  that  the  English  provisions  which  had  ac- 
companied them,  were  taken  from  them  (the  colonists)  and 
issued  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  servants  ;  and  states 
that,  to  procure  the  scanty  pittance  of  half  a  partridge  per 
day,  they  were  under  the  necessity  of  travelling  fifteen 
miles,  to  draw  it  on  sleighs  ;  that  if  they  (the  colonists) 
refused  to  comply,  their  provisions  were  immediately  stopt. 

That  on  his  route  from  Churchill  to  Red  River,  they  la- 
boured in  the  same  manner  as  the  servants  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  without  recompense. 


•  The  settlers  (among  whom  was  Grorgo  Campbell)  whiln  iinavoiclably  de- 
tained Ht  Churchill,  where  they  certainly  experienced  considerable  privations, 
had,  however,  an  allowance  of  pood  ancl  whulesonie  food,  pease,  pearl-barley, 
outmeal,  mohisses,  partridgi^  beef  or  |MU'k,  of  nearly  two  |>ounds  per  d  "v  for  cinh 
person,  including  womeu  anu  cliildrcn. 

MM 


I»t 


APPENDIX. 


That  on  their  (the  colonists')  arrival  at  Red  River,  on« 
hundred  acres  of  land  wtts  given  to  each  settlor,  and  that 
he  and  tive  or  six  settlers  were  furnished  vr'xih  iiorses. 

That  he  received  no  implements  of  hu4l)a'"Jry,  or  live 
stock,  and  all  the  kitchen  furniture  he  could  procure  was 
un  old  frying-pan,  and  a  small  copper  kettle. 

That  the  provisions  issued  tu  them  at  Red  River  were 
very  indifferent,  such  as  pemican  and  cat-iish ;  no  salt  could 
be  procured. 

That  Miles  M'Donell  assembled  the  settlers  at  his  dwell- 
ing-house, in  Red  River  settlement,  and  callii'.g  him,  (this 
deponent,)  Angus  AI^Kay,  and  John  Mathodon,  (n  hiA  room, 
desired  them  to  tell  the  settlers  that  arms  would  be  furnish- 
ed them  for  their  defence. 

That  he  went  out  and  spoke  to  the  settlers  on  the  subject, 
and  which  measure  Ihcy  all  adopted,  but  two  would  not. 

That  upon  this,  they  were  formed  into  a  line  at  the  end 
of  Mr.  Miles  M'Donell's  house,  where  they  were  treated 
to  a  glass  of  spirits  per  man,  Miles  M'Donell  at  the  same 
time  telling  him,  that  the  laws  of  this  country  (meaning 
Red  River)  were,  the  stronger  parties  dictating  to  ttie 
weaker.  After  this  harangue,  each  man  was  furnished  with 
a  gun  and  ammunition. 

That  finding  his  treatment  the  reverse  to  what  he  was  led 
to  expect  from  Lord  Selkirk's  representations,  and  for  the 
n.'asons  specified  in  this  deposition,  he  judged  it  expedient 
io  return  to  Canada,  and  for  that  purpose  requested  a  pas- 
fiage  from  Red  River,  from  Mr.  D.  Cameron,  (a  proprietor 
lij  the  North-West  Company,)  which  was  granted. 

And  farther  this  deponent  says  not. 
St.  Mary  Two  Falls.  1  fJ/A  August,  1815. 

(Signed)  GEORGE  CAMPBELL. 

Sworn  before  me,  one  of  His  Ma- 
jesty's Justices  of  the  Peace  for 

the  In'iiau  Territories. 

(binned)  JOHN  JOHNSON. 


[  G.  G.  ] 

Declaration  and  Confession  of  Charles  Reinhard. 

Moi  souspigntS  Charles  He  lleinhard,  m't'lant  rendu  prison- 
nier  a  Cupituiiic  d'Orsonnonf"  au  Lac  la  Fluie  le  2nd  d'Octobre, 
1816,  en  conaequence  de  dific-rentes  circonstaoces  arrivtilesde- 


I 


APPENDIX. 


Ixxi 


\MPBELL. 


puii  1e  tens  de  mon  service  dans  la  Compai^nie  du  Nord-Ouest, 
et  pour  ce  qui  a  rnpport  a  la  mort  de  M.  O.  Keveney,  fuit  vo- 
lontuirempnt  la  declaration  suivante  : 

Ayant  iini  mon  temi*  de  service  comine  Couleur*Serffcant 
dans  le  ROgiment  de  Meuron,  j'ui  6i6  recommand^  par  M.  1« 
Lieutenant  de  Mezani,  commandant  de  ma  compngnie.  i  Meosrs. 
W.  M'GilUvray,  et  M'Luod,  pour  ^tre  Commis  dans  la  Compa* 
gnie  du  N.  O.  et  j'ai  obtenti  ensnite  mon  cong^  du  Hfi;iment 
le  24  Avril,  18 tG,  par  recommendation  particuliere  faite  k  son 
Excellence  le  Oouverneur  Sir  Gordon  Drummond. 

Je  me  suis  engage  avec  la  plus  haute  opinion  o  j'^j  re^u 
de  M.  Mesrani  pour  servir  avec  tout  le  zele  po  me  gor.i^^t*^ 

la  plus  honorable,  et  prot^gi-e  par  le  gouvei  ft  j'ai  ^t<5 

trtis  satisfait  de  partir  pour  le  Nord  en  com]  'lossrs. 

les  lieutenants  Mezani  et  Brumby,  qui  avoici  n  d'ab- 

sence  du  rd^iment  pour  six  mnisi  sur  In  dcm.uin.  i,.  nmpa- 
gnie  du  Nonl-Ouest,  pour  rendre  une  conte  itiipartialle  uugou- 
vernement  de  tout  ce  qui  se  pnsseroit  dans  ce  pays. 

Durant  le  voyage  j'ai  entendu  parler  plusieurs  fois  d'une  op- 
position, sans  comprendre  ou  et  comme  elle  ^toit,  jtisqu'a  ce 
Jiue  nous  sommes  arrivds  au  Lac  la  Pluie  ou  M.  Mezani  m'in- 
orma,  comme  M.  M'Leod  souhaitoit,  que  je  misse  mon  habit 
militaire,  ainsi  que  mon  camarade  Heurtre,  Messrs.  M'Gilli- 
vray,  M'Leod,  et  Mezani  nous  ayant  recommand^  de  les  pren- 
dre avant  le  depart  de  Montreal  pour  paroitre  dans  un  conseil 
des  Sauvages,  qui  eut  lieu  dans  la  chnmbre  d'uudience  ou 
Messrs.  Meznni  ef  Brumby  ont  ^t^  introduit  comme  Capitninesi 
moi  et  Heurtrt;  a  leur  cotV  comme  gens  du  Roi.  M.  M'Leod 
dirigeoit  le  discouvs  pour  I'lnterprete,  et  faisoit  expliquer  aux 
Sauvages,  ce  qui  e't'toit  passd  a  la  Riviere  Rouge,  ou  M.  Ro- 
bertson avait  pris  le  fort  comme  un  voleur,  les  prisonniers  mal- 
trailt's,  ct  apn's  le  pillage  tout  brul^,  et  ce  qu'on  avoit  a  crain- 
dre  d'autres  violences,  en  consi^'quence  le  gouvernement  avoit 
envoy*;  Messrs.  les  Officiers,  pour  voir  que  justice  fut  rendu, 
et  M.  M  Leod  inrita  les  Sauvages  de  prendre  partie  avec  la 
Compagnie  du  N,  O.  et  de  leur  donner  assist-jnce  pour  dt'fen- 
dre  leur  droit,  sur  quoi  un  chef  des  Sau'-^ges  et  vingt-quatre 
de  ses  jeunes  gens  apron  avoir  requ  de»  p^'-sents  et  ammunition, 
sont  partis  le  leudemain  avec  la  brigade,  la  moitie  dans  leurs 
propres  canots,  et  la  moititi  dans  ceux  de  la  brigade. 

Arrives  au  fort  Bas  de  la  Riviere,  M.  M'Leod  lit  ouvrir  les 
feaisscs  d'armes,  et  armerent  les  Canadien  ;  ou  embarqua  deux 
pieces  de  canons  de  metal,  et  la  brigade  monta  jusqu'a  la  Ri- 
viere des  Worts,  pour  y  attcndre  encore  des  canAls  d'Athabas- 
ca,  qui  sont  airives  lo  loinlomuin.     Le  22  de  Juin  la  brigade 


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APPENDIX. 


eit  avanc^  dans  la  Riviere  des  Morta,  et  rencoatra  deux  bei^a 
da  coloniates.  dont  AI.  M'Leod  visita  toutes  les  cassettes,  oof- 
fres,  &c.  et  garda  beauroup  de  papiers  :  il  ne  fit  prisoonier  que 
M.  Pritcbard,  de  qui  les  premiers  details  des  ^venemens  qni  ont 
eu  lieu,  a  la  Riviere  Rouge  furent  obtenus.  Ayant  retrograde 
jusqv'au  campement  pr^ddent  avec  les  colonistes,  M.  Bourke, 

3ui  ^toit  bless^,  et  trois  autres  eerviteurs  de  la  Coropagnie 
'Hudson's  Bay,  oni  m  iaits  prisonniers,  et  mis  tous  ensemble 
dans  uoe  tente,  dont  j'avois  la  surveillance. 

Le  lendemain  M.  M*Leod  et  les  autres  propritftaires  pr^sens, 
avec  plusieurg  commis,  sont  partis  en  candts  aNege  pour  la 
Fourche,  ainsi  que  Messrs.  Mezani  et  Brumby,  oui  aussitdk 
apr^s  leur  retour,  et  des  autres  Messrs.  de  la  Riviere  defl 
Morts,  sont  partis  avec  M.  Hugbes  pour  Fort  William,  pour  ap< 
porter  les  nouvelles  a.  M.  Wm.  M'Gillivray,  et  dc  la  se  rendre 
a  Montreal  imui^dintement  Apqes  q«e  la  brigade  fut  rassem- 
bl£,  on  m'envoya  avec  les  prisonniers  au  Bas  de  la  Riviere,  et 
la  brigade  se  rendit  au  Grande  Rapide,  craignant  que  M.  Ro» 
bertson  n'intercepta  les  canots  cbarges  d'Athabasca,  et  Messrs. 
M*Donell  et  M'Lellan  sont  arrives  quatre  ou  cinq  jours  apres 
moi,  au  Bas  de  la  Riviere  avec  quinze  Bois-Brul^s,  trois  ca- 
nons, dont  deux  petit  de  metal,  et  un  de  fer,  deux  fusils  de 
rempart,  et  environ  cinquante  fusils  (musquets)  de  I'ancien  mo- 
dele  de  Tarm^e.  Au  retour  de  la  brigade  du  Grande  Rapide, 
les  prisonniers  ont  6t6  embarqu^  pour  Fort  William,  et  j'ai  re- 
9U  la  direction  sous  le  commandement  de  M.  M'Lellan  de  met- 
tre  le  fort  ep  ^tat  de  defense,  tant  confte  M.  Robertson,  qui  a 
6t6  suppose  vouloir  prendre  ce  poste  de  provisions,  ou  il  y  avoit 
quatre  ou  cinq  ceiis  sacs  de  pemican,  qu'i  recevoir  avec  les  ca- 
nons et  quarante  fusils  en  reserve  toujours  charges,  chaque  ca- 
not  de  la  Compagnie  d'Hudson's  Bay  qui  tenteroit  de  passer  la 
poste. 

Ayant  appris  que  le  Milord  Selkirk  dtoit  arrive  au  Sault  avec 
grand  nombre  d'hommes,  canons,  &c.  on  redoubia  de  vigilance 
au  fort,  M'Lellin  faisant  croire  a  tout  le  monde,  que  le  Milord 
^toit  leur  plus  gMnd  ennemi,  avilissant  son  caractere  de  tpute 
maniere,  et  reprdstntant  le  pamphlet  de  M.  Strahan  compie 
parlant  de  Milord  avec  trop  de  moderation,  publiant  Topinion 
de  trois  avocats  pour  prouver  la  nullity  de  la  chartre,  et  repr^- 
aentant  Lord  Selkirk  comme  agissant  sans  autorit^,  et  faisant  des 
lois  a  sa  fa^on  ;  que  le  gouvernement  ^toit  d^cidemment  4n  &• 
veur  de  la  Compagnie  du  Nord-Ouest,  puisqu'il  avoit  envoye 
deux  officiers  pour  voir  que  tout  ^toit  en  regie  :  que  tout  ce 
qui  fait  Lord  Selkirk  est  saos  la  conuoissaace  ou  I'agrement  do 
iouveroemcnt. 


APPRRDIX. 


Ixxiii 


Dans  le  commenceneDt  d'AoQt  on  a  appris  au  baa  de  la  Ri- 
viere, qu^il  ^toit  arrive  dans  le  Lac  du  Bonnet  une  barge  d'An^ 
gtois  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson  avec  pen  de  monde.  Par  les  pre- 
miers candts  charges  poor  Athabasca  il  arriva  un  homme  de 
cette  barge,  qui  dit,  qu'il  ne  pouvoit  plus  rester  avec  M.  Ke- 
veney,  qui  commande  cette  bai^e,  et  que  ses  camarades  ^chap- 
peroient  aussi  a  la  premiere  occasion.  Q^uelques  jours  aprcs 
quatres  autres  hommes  de  cette  barge  sont  arrives  avec  des 
autres  canots  pour  Athabasca.  Deux  ou  trois  jours  apr^s  M. 
M'Leod  ^tant  arriv6  du  Fort  William  examina  les  hommes,  dont 
on  nomm^  Hay  a  fait  serment,  que  M.  Keveney  avoit  cruelle- 
ment  maltraitd  lui  et  ses  camarades,  sur  cela  M.  M'Leod  donna 
un  warrant  contre  !ui,  et  nomma  moi,  et  un  de  ses  propres 
hommes,  nomm^  Casti^,  comme  connetablcs  pour  aller  I'arrl- 
ter  au  portage,  oil  sliS"  gens  Tavoit  abandonn^.  M.  M'Lellan 
ordonna  six  Bois^Brules  aTec  inoi  pour  assistance  ;  en  arrivant 
sur  les  dix  heufes  de  matin,  j*ai  trouv^  M.  Keveney  dans  sa 
tente,  et  je  lui  ai  annonc^  ma  mission,  le  faisant  prisoonier  au 
Dom  du  Roi ;  il  fut  tres  surpris,  il  saisit  ses  pistolets  pour  se 
defendre.  Lui  byant  repr^sent^  que  son  opposition  a  la  loi  se- 
roit  une  cause  inevitable  de  sa  mort  immediate,  il  resta  tran- 
quille,  et  demanda  a  voir  le  warrant  par  lequel  il  ^toit  arr^td. 
L'ayant  In,  il  vint  de  nouveau  furieux,  et  j'avois  beaucoup  de 
pein€  a  empecher  les  Bois-Brul^s  de  le  tuer.  M.  Keveney  fut 
emmen^  prisonnier  au  bas  de  la  Riviere  ;  j'ai  laiss^  Finterprete 
Primeau  pour  avoir  soin  de  ses  propri^t^s  d^ja  sous  la  charge 
de  son  commis,  nommd  Cowly,  et  son  domestique,  un  Irlan- 
dois.  Arrives  au  fort  avec  le  prisonnier,  il  eut  une  vive  dis- 
pute avec  M'Lellan,  pretendant  ne  point  etre  sous  la  jurisdic- 
tion du  Canada,  ^tant  sur  la  territoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  la 
Baie  d'Hudson,  il  pr^tendoit  ^tre  independant  du  loi  du  Cana- 
da. Le  lendemain  vers  les  dix  heures  il  fut  embarqud  pour 
Fort  William  avfec  cinq  Bois-Brul^s,  a  qui  M.  M'Lellan  remit 
des  fers,  pour  en  faire  usage  en  cas  que  le  prisonnier  fit  resis- 
tance. J'ai  ensuite  appris  des  Bois-Brul^s,  qu'arrives  au  por- 
tage, le  prisonnier  se  conduisit  de  maniere  a  les  obliger  de  le 
garotter,  et  lui  mettre  les  fers  aux  mains.  Le  commis  de  M. 
Keveney  (Cowly)  ^tant  abandonn^,  se  rendit  au  fort,  demimda 
a  M.  M'Lellan  de  recevoir  contre  un  re9u  la  barge  avec  la 
charge,  et  de  lui  accorder  la  liberte,  et  encore  un  homme  pour 
retoumer  avec  un  petit  canut  au  Fort  Albany,  d'ou  ils  dtoient 
Tenus.  Le  re^u  a  t^t^  delivre  pour  quatre  veaux,  une  alem- 
bique,  une  caisse  d'armes,  des  quarts  de  boeufs  sales,  farine, 
kc.  &c.    Au  retour  de  Primeau  au  fort  il  delivra  des  papiers 


1: 


ria 


Izxiv 


APPENDIX. 


<1e  M.  Keveney  a  M.  M'Lellan,  et  it  fj^arda  pourlui  les  habille- 
mens  qii'il  (M.  Keveney)  avoit  laiss^  en  partant  pour  Fort  Wil. 
lian)  ;  il  fit  en  outre  pn^sent  a  Af  AI'Lellan  de  livre,  dacon  a 
vin,  chandeliers,  tasses,  et  autres  petites  articles. 

Parmi  les  papiers  il  y  avoit  des  instructions  imprimis  d' Hud- 
son's Bay.  J'ai  appris  que  M.  M'Donell,  ayant  rencontr^  le 
prisonnier  et  les  cinq  Bois-Brul^s,  rempla9a  les  cinq  Bois  Bru- 
its par  deux  jeunes  Canadiens,  et  un  Sauvage  comme  guide, 
pour  conduire  le  prisonnier  au  Lac  la  Pluie.  Messrs  Stuart 
et  Thompson  ayant  rencontre,  trois  ou  quatre  jours  aprea,  ce 
canut,  le  firent  retournier.  Les  Canadiens  et  le  Sauvage  s'^tant 
dispute,  il  se  separerent,  et  les  Canadiens,  ignorant  le  chemin, 
n'ont  plus  pu  8ui^  re  leur  route,  ont  abandonn^  le  prisonnier 
dans  une  petite  isle,  et  sont  rest^s  dans  une  autre  isle  pas  loin 
de  lui.  M.  Stuart  ^tant  arrive  au  has  de  la  Riviere  avec  la 
nouvelle  que  Fort  William  ^toit  pris,  M'Lellan  Tenvoya  avec 
un  canot  alle<re  a  Athabasca  pouravertir  M.  M'Leod,  et  un  au- 
tre a  la  Riviere  Rouge  pour  avertir  M.  M'Donell,  qui  arriva  au 
bas  de  la  Riviere  le  4  de  Septembre,  dans  la  nnit,  avec  les 
Bois-Brul^s,  et  des  Sauvages.  Pendant  tout  ce  terns  on  atlen- 
doit  M.  Keveney,  qui  n'arrivoit  point,  et  on  conjectvroit  on 
que  le  Sauvage  Pavoit  tue,  ou  que  les  Canadiens  s'^toient  ^ga- 
r^s,  ou  que  le  canot  avoit  fait  naufrage.  Le  5  de  Septembre 
M.  M'Donell  et  M'Lellan  ont  assemble  tout  le  monde  au  bas  de 
la  Riviere  pour  un  conseil,  on  representa  dans  une  proclama- 
tion la  prise  du  Fort  William,  et  les  dangers  qu'on  courroient 
en  permettant  a  Pennemi  de  p6n6trer  plus  avant,  et  demanda, 
ceux  qui  voudroient  se  rendre  volontaiwment  au  Lac  la  Pluie, 
de  s'annoncer.  La  plupart  ayant  refuse  et  prefer^  defendie 
leurs  terres  a  la  Riviere  Rouge,  M.  M'Lellan  en  pris  un  ctnot 
allege  avec  M.  Grant,  Cadot,  et  moi,  ses  Bois-Brul^s,  et  son 
domestique,  un  Canadien,  dans  Pintention  de  se  rendre  au  Lac 
la  Pluie  pour  apprendre  des  nouvelles,  et  en  meme  terns  cher- 
cher  a  decouvrir  ce  qn'etoit  devenu  M.  Keveney.  Pendant  le 
voyage  la  conversation  general  ctoit  f*""  si  on  le  trouvoit,  il  fal- 
loit  le  tuer,  «tant  un  ennemi  dete:  de  la  Compagnie,  et 

qu'il  pourroit  faire  beaucoup  do  oor  ,i  a  la  Riviere  Rouge, 
si  dans  le  temps  il  auroit  occasion  de  prendre  vengeance.  Apres 
quatre  jours  de  marche,  le  Sauvage  s'est  trouve  pres  d'une  pe- 
tite riviere  ;  quelques  he'irt^s  apres  on  apper9Ut  les  Canadiens, 
aux  quels  M'Lellan  administroit  beaucoup  d'invectives,  et  plu- 
sieurs  coups  de  perches,  pour  avoir  battu  l«  Sauvage  et  aban- 
donne  le  prisonnier.  Les  Bois-Rrules  ont  insult^  les  Canadiens 
pour  avoir  empeche  an  Sauvage  de  tuer  le  prisonnier,  qui  di- 
fioient,  il  auroit  dQ  etre  mis  a  mort  au  moment  qu'il  fut  pris. 


!S  habille- 
Fort  Wil- 
\  flacon  a 

1^8  d'Hud- 
icontr^  le 
Bois  Bru- 
me f^uide, 
rs    Stuart 
I  aprea,  ce 
»ge  s'^tant 
le  chemin, 
prisonnier 
le  pns  loin 
e  avec  la 
ivoya  avec 
,  et  un  au- 
i  arriva  au 
,  avec  lea 
s  on  atlen« 
ictHroit  00 
toient  ^ga- 
Septembre 
i  au  has  de 
proclama- 
courroient 
t  demanda, 
ic  la  Pldie, 

defendre 
19  un  c:«n6t 
lies,  et  son 
dre  au  Lac 
terns  cher- 
Pendant  le 
]voit,  il  fal- 
npagnie,  et 
ire  Rouge, 
ce.     Apres 

d'une  pe- 
Canadiens, 
res,  et  plu- 
e  et  aban- 
I  Canadiens 
ier,  qui  di- 
il  fut  pris. 


APPENDII. 


IXIT 


M.  M'Lellan  s'^tant  informe  oii  il  pourroit  trouver  le  prisonnier, 
il  prit  les  Canudiens  dans  le  candt,  le  bnuvage  y  etant  deja,  re- 
couvert  d'un  manteau  Erussais.  afin  de  n'etre  pas  reconnu. 
M.  M'Lellan  en  fut  furieux  en  arrivant  a  I'isle  ou  le  prisonnier 
avoit  6te  abandonn^,  eana  le  trouver,  croyant  qu'il  s'^toit  ^chap- 
p^  de  la  cdt^  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson,  et  chercha  chez  tous  les 
Sauvages.  jusqu'a  ce  qu'il  le  trouva  par  sa  tente,  qui  doit  pres 
d'une  famille  de  Sauvages,  a  qui  M'Lellan  6t  present  de  rum  et 
tabac,  et  traita  un  petit  candt  pour  faire  embarquer  le  prison- 
nier avec  moi  et  un  Bois-Brule,  et  le  Sauvage,  disant  a  moi, 
**  Faites  croire  au  prisonnier  qu'il  doit  descendre  au  Lac  la 
Pluie.  Nous  ne  pouvons  pas  le  tuer  ici  panni  les  Sauvages. 
Nous  vous  attendrons  plus  loin,  et  quand  vous  trouverez  un 
endroit  favorable,  vous  savez  ce  que  vous  avez  a  faire."  Sur 
quoi  il  partit.  Environ  trois  quarts  d'heures  apres  que  les 
femmes  Sauvages  eurent  finis  de  gommer  le  petit  can&t,  j'ai  fait 
embarquer  le  prisonnier  avec  tout  son  bagage,  a  I'exception 
d'une  valise  et  un  portmanteau,  qui  furent  mis  dans  le  candt  de 
M.  M'Lellan,  et  environ  un  quart  de  lieu  de  la,  la  riviere  fais- 
ant  un  coud,  et  M.  Keveney  ayant  demande  de  mettre  pied  a 
terre  pour  ses  besoins,  j'ui  dit  a  Mainville,  (le  Bois  Brul^,) 
"  nous  sommes  assez  loin  des  Sauvages,  tu  peux  tirer  quand  il 
sera  proche  pour  se  rembarquer,"  le  Sauvage  tenoit  le  canot 
par  devant,  et  moi  j'^ois  aussi  a  terre.  Quand  M.  Keveney 
approcha  pour  s'embarquer,  Mainville  lui  lacha  son  coup  de 
fusil,  dont  le  contenu  lui  traversa  le  coup,  et  comme  j'ai  vu  que 
le  coup  n'etoit  pas  assev.  mortel,  et  qife  M.  Keveney  vouloit  en- 
core parler,  etant  toabe  en  avant  sur  le  canot,  je  lui  ai  passe 
moo  sabre  par  derriere  le  dos,  centre  le  coeur,  a  deux  reprises, 
afin  de  terminer  ses  soufTranoefl.  Etant  bien  mort,  ils  depouil- 
lerent  le  cadavre,  et  le  porterent  dans  le  bois.  M'^tant  rendu 
au  camp  de  M.  M'Lellan,  qui,  en  voyant  arrive  le  petit  canut, 
il  envoya  M.  Grant  et  Cadot,  pour  me  demander  si  M.  Keve- 
ney ^toit  tu^  ;  ayant  repondu  qu'oui,  ils  m'informerent  que  M. 
M'Lellan  les  avoit  envoys  pour  me  donner  la  direction  de  dire 
qu'il  n'est  pas  tue,  sur  quoi  je  leur  dis,  qu'il  est  tu^,  et  que  jc 
ne  le  cacberois  pas,  puisqu'il  etoit  execute  par  ses  ordres.  Ar- 
rives au  camp,  M'Lellan  a  demands  les  details  du  meurtre,  que 
je  lui  ai  donne  comme  ci-dessus,  et  je  lui  ai  remis  sa  tente,  sou 
lit,  et  tout  le  bapge  ;  il  examina  tous  lea  papiers  pendant  lit 
nuit,  brdlant  les  uns  et  gardant  les  autres,  et  le  reste  ii  remit, 
a  ma  discretion  :  j'ai  distribu^  entre  les  Bois-Rrulcs  quelques 
habillemens  port^s.  M.  Grant  demanderent  la  tente,  et  M. 
Cadot  diflerentes  articles,  et  je  contois  de  gardcr  un  cofli'o 
avec  des  habillements  fins,  pour  ma  part,  mais  tous  fut  laiss*- 
en  cache  pour  le  retour  du  Lac  la  Pluie.     Nous  arriviimes  1<; 


F»     '' 


Ixivi 


APPEKDIX. 


Is  Septembre  m  soir,  aa  Fort  Lac  la  Plaie,  ou,  trouvant  qot 
le  fort  n'^toit  pas  occupy  par  le  parti  de  Lord  Selkiric,  M .  M'Lel' 
Ian  proposa  de  ae  rendre  aii  Fort  William  pour  obtenir  dea  in- 
telligences, ce  qui  ayant  ^t^  refuse  par  lea  Bois-Brul^,  il  me 
proposa  d'y  descendre  dans  ud  petit  candt  arec  deux  ou  troia 
Canadiena,  mais  Mr.  Dease  ayant  sa  famille  au  fort,  demanda 
ct  obtint  d'y  aller  a  ma  place.  M.  M'Lellan  partit  pour  le  Baa 
de  la  Rividre  le  dix-sept,  et  moi  j'dtois  pour  rester  au  Lac  la 
Plaie  jnsqu'au  retour  de  Mr.  Dease  ;  le  i  d'Octobre,  de  grand 
matin,  j'ai  regu  une  lettre  du  Capitaine  D*0ri>onnen9,  qui  avoit 
appris  par  les  Sauvages  que  j*^tois  la,  il  m'avertissoit  de  ne  pas 
fuir  de  I'endroit,  qa'il  avoit  absolument  a  me  parler  concernant 
les  affaires  de  la  Kivi^re  Rouge,  m'envoyant  en  m£me  tempa 
une  copie  de  la  proclamation  du  gouvemement.  Capitaine 
D'Orsonneos  dtaot  arrive  sur  les  deux  heures  avec  Mr.  Dease, 
et  m'ayant  expliqu^  les  circonstances  des  deux  Compagnies,  et 
que  ceux  du  Nord-Ouest  qui  ^oit  a  la  Riviere  Rouge,  seroit 
consid^r^  comme  rebelles  au  gouvemement  s'ils  persistoient 
dans  leur  conduite,  je  fas  des  i^lus  surpris  de  cette  nouvelle,  et 
surtout  fremit  d'borreur  au  crime  affreux  auquel  ces  Messieura 
de  Nord-Ouest  m'avoit  fait  participer,  pen  de  jours  auparavant, 
sur  la  personne  de  M.  Keveney— ayant  cm,  jusqu'iT  ce  mo- 
ment la  m'«itre  confbrme  aux  voeux  du  |^uTernement — sur  quoi 
je  me  rendis  prisonnier  au  Capitaine  D'Orsonnens,  et  lui  don- 
nois  tous  les  details  ci-dessus. 
Fort  William,  le  28  Octobre,  1816. 

(Signed)  C.  de  REINHARD,* 

Commis  de  la  Compagnie 
du  Nord-Ouest. 

Before  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's  jus« 
tices  assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  western  district  of 
Upper  Canada,  and  also  in  the  Indian  Territories,  or  parts 
of  America  not  within  the  Province  of  Upper  or  Lower 
Canada,  appeared  Charles  Reinhard,  charged  with  the  crime 
4)f  murder,  who,  being  examined,  confessed  that  he  had 
assisted  in  murdering  Mr.  Owen  Keveney,  and  gave  in  the 
annexed  statement,  written  with  his  own  hand,  on  the  seven 
preceding  pages,  and  signed  with  his  name,  declaring  that 
the  same  contained  a  true  account  of  the  transaction,  and 


*  Reinhnrd  is  a  native  of  the  Tyrol.  He  had  been  long  in  the  regiment  D» 
Meuroii,  in  which  ho  was  a  pay  and  colour  sergeant,  and  was  highly  esteemed 
by  his  ofliccn.  It  has  not  been  thought  necessary  to  add  a  translation  to  his  con- 
fession, above  inserted,  as  the  substance  of  it  il  given  in  the  account  of  Mr.  Ker- 
ency**  murder,  in  (he  Observations,  page  160. 


APPENDIX. 


IxxTii 


of  the  reason  by  which  he  was  misled  to  participate  in 
such  a  crime. 

(Signed)  C.  REINHARD, 

Commis  de  la  Compagnie 
du  Nord-Oueat. 
Declared  before  me,  at  Fort  William, 
on  the  3d  day  of  November,  1816. 

(Signed)        SELKIRK,  J.  P. 
In  presence  of 

J,  Matthet,  Capt.  late  D.  M.  Regt. 
John  William  Dease,  t    «,., 

John  Allan,  ^  Wttnesses. 

Alex.  Bridpord  Becher. 


[  H.  H.  ] 

Deposition  of  Bt^tiste  La  Pointe. 

Before  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  his  Majesty's  jus- 
tices assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  Upper  Province  of  Ca> 
nada,  and  the  Indian  Territories,  and  parts  of  America,  ap- 
peared Baptiste  La  Poiilte,  of  the  parish  of  I'Assomption,  who, 
being  duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  EvangeUsts,  declares : 

Que  cet  Hk  il  partit  da  Lac  la  Fluie  dans  le  candt  de  Mr. 
M'Donell,  (dit  les  cheveux  blonds,)  entrant  en  hivemement  pour 
la  Riviere  Rouge ;  arriv^  a  la  rointe  aux  Pins,  ils  rencon- 
trerent  cinq  Bois-Brul^s,  dans  deux  petits  canots  Indiens,  avec 
un  homme  ayant  les  fers  aux  mains,  les  poignets  enfles,  et  on 
Tappelloit  Keveney  ;  les  Bois-Brul^s  dirent  qu'il  etoit  prison- 
nier  pour  avoir  tu^  deux  ou  trois  de  ses  gens.  Monsieur 
M'Donell  ordonna  au  deposant  et  a  Hubert  Faye  de  prendre 
charge  de  M.  Keveney,  avec  un  Sanvage  nomme  Jose,  comme 
guide,  pour  se  rendre  au  Lac  la  Pluie.  Apres  neuf  jours,  dont 
plusieurs  de  degrat,  ils  rencontrerent  en  de9a  du  Portage  da 
Rat,  Monsieur  Stuart,  et  le  bourgeois  de  la  Riviere  aux  An- 
glois,  Mr.  Thompson,  qui  leur  dirent  de  retourner  sur  leurs  pas. 
Leur  petit  candt  ne  pouvant  suivre  la  brigade,  ils  furent  obliges 
de  mettre  a  terre.  Le  Sauvage,  qui  des  le  commencement 
avoit  fait  les  mouvemens  de  tuer  Mr.  Keveney,  en  se  mettant 
en  joue,  et  disant  "  Monsieur  M'Donell — pou/"" — fut  plus  ex- 
asper^  de  ce  contre  terns,  et  de  ce  que  le  deposant  et  Faye 
Pavoient  empech^  de  tuer  Mr.  Keveney,  a  plusieurs  reprises, 
mit  le  can6t  en  pieces  a  coup  d'avirons.  Se  trouvant  sans  ca- 
ndt le  Sauvage  en  acheta  une  autre  pour  uae  couverte,  dans 
lequel  le  deposant  et  Faye  embarquerent,  laissant  Mr.  Keveney 

N  N 


i 


11 . 


h 


>'^:  i; 


I 


y  ii 


w 


I' 


i 

I' ill 


^'f-v- 


;.v<4Mi<4t.a>r>>iiiai 


lizviii 


AFPENDIX^ 


sur  le  ri?age,  et  ils  partirent  pour  «e  rendre  au  Baa  de  la  Ri> 
viere.  Aprei  avoir  march^  jusqu'au  soir,  le  Sauvage,  apres 
avoir  voulo  toer  le  deposant  et  Faye,  se  separa  d'eux,  et  le 
candt  ayant  diaparu  par  un  remoox,  ils  resterent  dans  cet  en- 
droit  quatre  jours,  au  bout  desquels  arriva  un  candt  avec  Mon- 
sieur  Arch^,  (M'Lellan,)  Monsieur  Cadet,  Monsieur  Reinhard, 
et  cinq  ou  six  Boia-Brul^a,  ainsi  que  le  Sauvnge  Jos^,  aasis  sur 
le  devant  du  candt,  et  recouvert  d'une  cloque  Ecossaise.    Apres 

Idusieurs  -jiueations  concemant  le  Sauvage  et  le  prisonnier,  ot 
e  deposant  ayant  inform^  Monsieur  Arch^  qu'ils  sVtoient  se- 
par^s  parce  que  le  Sauvage  avoit  voulu  tuer  Mr.  Keveney,  et  en 
avoit  6ti  emp^ch^  par  le  deposant  et  son  compagnon,  en  ven- 
seance  de  quoi  le  Sauvage  avoit  aussi  eu  dessein  de  les  tuer, 
lis  s'^toient  en  consequence  battns  et  separ^s  de  lui.  Sur  quoi 
Mr.  Cadot  traita  le  deposant  et  son  compagnon  de  "  Sacr^s  Sa- 
lots,"  pour  avoir  emp£ch4  au  Sauvage  de  iaire  ce  qu'ou  lui 
avoit  ordonn^  de  faire  ;  Mr.  Arch£  ^tant  debarqud  dans  ce  mo- 
ment, donna  des  coups  de  perche  d'abord  a  Faye,  et  ensuite  au 
deposant,  qui  en  a  encore  le  bras  gauche  foible.  Ayant  eu  or- 
dre  d'embarquer  dans  le  can6t,  ils  arriverent  le  m£me  jour,  ou 
le  lendemain,  a  I'endroit  ou  ila  avoient  laiss^  Mr.  Keveney,  qui 
."^  n*y  ^toit  plus,  mais  il  fut  trouv^  a  quatre  ou  cinque  lieues  plus 
en  defa,  panni  des  Sauvages.  Apres  quelque  conversation  en- 
tre  M.  Keveney  et  ceux  de  leur  canott^e,  M.  Arch^  ordonna 
d'embarquer,  et  le  candt  partit,  laissant  en  arriere  le  Sauvage 
Jos^,  M.  Reinhard,  le  Bois-Brul^  Mainville,  et  M.  Keveney. 
Ayant  camp^  trois  lieues  en  de9a,  ils  virent  venir  le  petit  can6t, 
qu'ils  s'^toient  procures  des  Sauvages,  et  comme  il  ne  conte* 
noit  que  trois  personnes,  les  Bois-Brul^s  dirent  qu'ils  avoient 
enfin  tu^  M.  Keveney,  ce  que  Mainville  leur  confirma  en'^arri- 
▼ant,  disant  que  la  balle  lui  avoit  passd  dans  le  col,  et  un  coup 
de  poignard  dans  le  doe,  et  qu'il  ^toit  tomb^  par  dessus  le  ca- 
ndt. Le  deposant  a  vu  le  canut  couvert  de  sang,  les  habits  que 
portoit  M.  kenevey  ensangiant^s,  et  transferees  de  coups  de 
poignard,  et  d'un  trou  de  balle ;  le  Sauvage  a  lave  I'habille- 
ment,  et  on  en  a  fait  un  partage.  La  tente,  des  bottes,  et  au- 
tres  effets  ont  ^'te  pris  en  cache.  M.  Arch^  ayant  pris  sous  ses 
soins  trois  ou  quatre  petites  cassettes  et  ecritoires,  contenant 
beaucoup  de  papiers ;  qu'il  fut  occupy,  partie  de  la  nuit,  a  lire 
et  a  brAler,  et  le  lendemain  il  eut  lam^me  revision  des  papiers, 
jettant  a  I'eau,  lest^  avec  des  pierres,  ceux  qui  lui  <:toient  in- 
utiles.  Ayant  fini,  M.  Arche  fdlicita  les  Bois-Brulds  d'avoir 
detruit  cet  homme  la,  qui,  s'il  dtoit  alld  a  la  Riviere  Rouge, 
avoit  le  pouvoir  d'y  amener  de  la  troupe«  et  de  les  faire  tuer 
tous.  Le  deposant  ajoute  qu'il  a  eu  I'habit  de  M.  Keveney  en 
sa  possession  jusques  au  Lac  la  Pluie,  ou  quelqu'un  I'a  subti- 
lise hors  de  sa  poche.  11  a  cntendu  M.  Archd  proposer  aux 
Boia-Brul^s  de  descendre  pour  reprendre  le  Fort  William,  avec 


■~>W|Aur.wrKx 


APPENDIX. 


lllil 


de  la  Ri. 
rage,  apre» 
eux,  et  le 
ans  cet  en- 
avec  Mon- 
r  Reinbard, 
1^,  aasis  sur 
ise.    Apres 
isonnier,  ot 
Vtoient  se- 
reney,  et  en 
n,  en  ven- 
ie  lea  tuer, 
Sur  quoi 
'  Sacr^s  Sa- 
le qu'on  lui 
lans  ce  mo- 
t  ensuite  au 
yant  eu  or- 
ae  jour,  ou 
sveney,  qui 
lieues  plus 
rsation  en- 
1^  ordonna 
le  Sauvage 
.  Keveney. 
petit  can6t, 
I  ne  conte> 
'its  avoient 
ma  en'^arri- 
et  un  coup 
;88us  le  ca- 
I  habits  que 
le  coups  de 
e  I'habille- 
ttes,  et  au- 
ris  sous  ses 
,  contenant 
nuit,  a  lire 
68  papiers, 
(itoient  in- 
1^8  d 'avoir 
re  Rouge, 
faire  tuer 
eveney  en 
Ta  subti- 
iposer  aux 
liiam,  avec 


del  Saavagca,  mais  n'ayant  eu  que  trois  adherens,  Ui  repartirent 
pour  le  baa  de  la  Riviere. 

Hit 
(Signed)  BAPTISTE  +  LAPOINTE. 

Mark. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  on  the 
Slat  of  October,  1816. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 

[translation.] 

That  he  ^Baptiste  La  Pointe)  set  out  last  aummer  from 
Lake  la  Pluie  in  the  canoe  of  Mr.  M'Donell,  (called  the 
fair  haired)  who  was  then  going  to  winter  at  Red  River. 
When  they  arrived  at  Pine  Point,  they  met  five  Boia- 
Brules  in  two  small  canoes,  with  a  man  whom  they  called 
Keveney,  in  handcuifs,  and  with  his  wrists  swelled,  and 
who,  the  Bois-Brules  said*,  had  been  made  a  prisoner  be- 
cause  he  had  killed  two  or  three  of  his  people.  Mr. 
M'Donell  ordered  the  deponent  and  Hubert  Faye  to  take 
charge  of  Mr.  Keveney,  with  an  Indian,  named  Joseph,  as 
a  guide  to  go  to  Lake  fa  Pluie.  After  nine  days  of  travel- 
ling, including  stoppages,  they  met,  on  this  side  of  the  Rat 
Portage,  Mr.  Stuart,  and  the  English  River  partner,  Mr. 
Thompson,  who  told  them  to  return  back  again.  Their 
little  canoe  not  being  able  to  keep  up  with  the  brigade, 
they  were  obliged  to  land.  The  Indian,  who  from  the 
first  had  attempted  to  kill  Mr.  Keveney,  levelling  his 
piece,  and  saying,  *'  jtfr.  MDonell — puff,''''  was  so  much 
exasperated  at  this  disappointment,  and  also  because  the 
deponent  and  Faye  had  at  different  times  prevented  him 
killing  Mr.  Keveny,  that  he  knocked  the  canoe  to  pieces 
with  a  paddle.  Being  now  without  a  canoe,  the  Indian 
bought  another  for  a  blanket,  in  which  he  embarked  with 
the  deponent  and  Faye,  leaving  Mr.  Keveney  on  the 
shore.  They  then  set  out  for  Bas  de  la  Riviere,  and  after 
proceeding  till  night,  the  Indian  who  had  attempted  to  kill 
both  the  deponent  and  Faye,  left  them  ;  and  the  Canadians 
having  lost  their  canoe,  remained  in  that  place  four  days  ; 
at  the  end  of  which  time  a  canoe  arrived  with  Mr,  Archi- 
bald (M'Lellan,)  Mr.  Cadot,  Mr.  Reinbard,  and  five  or  six 
Bois-Brules,  together  with  the  Indian,  Joseph,  sitting  on 
the  front  of  the  canoe,  wrapped  in  a  Scotch  plaid.  After 
several  questions  about  the  Indian  and  the  prisoner,  the 
deponent  having  informed  Mr.  Archibald,  that  they  had 
parted  because  the  Indian  wanted  to  kill  Mr.  Keveny,  and 
had  been  prevented  by  the  deponent  and  his  companion ; 
and  that  in  revenge  he  had  wanted  to  kill  thcui,  when 


I 


II 

I 

hi 

i 


M 


I 
I,'  - 


Ixxx 


APPENDIX. 


V' 

.♦.'■ 


they  fought  and  separated.  On  this  Mr.  Cadot  called 
him  and  his  companion  "  Sacr^s  Salots,"  for  having  pre- 
vented the  Indian  from  doing  what  he  was  ordered.  Mr. 
Archibald  having  come  on  shore  at  that  moment,  took  the 

{lole  of  the  canoe,  and  beat  Faye  and  the  deponent,  whose 
eft  arm  is  still  weak  from  the  blows.  Being  ordered  to 
embark  in  the  canoe,  they  arrived  the  same  day,  or  the 
next,  at  the  place  where  thev  had  left  Mr.  Keveny,  who 
was  no  longer  there.  They  found  him,  however,  four  or 
five  leagues  further  on,  among  some  Indians.  After  some 
conversation  between  Mr.  Keveny  and  some  of  his  people, 
Mr.  Archibald  ordered  them  to  embark,  and  the  canoe  set 
out,  leaving  behind,  the  Indian  Joseph,  Mr.  Reinhard,  the 
Bois-Brul^  Mainville,  and  M.  Keveny.  Having  encamped 
three  leagues  further  on,  they  saw  the  small  canoe  ap- 
proaching which  had  been  bought  from  the  Indians ;  and 
as  there  were  only  three  persons  then  in  it,  the  Bois-Bru- 
l^s  said  they  had  at  last  killed  Mr.  Keveny,  which  Main- 
ville  confirmed  when  he  arrived,  saying  that  the  bullet  had 
passed  through  his  neck,  and  that  he  had  been  stabbed  in 
the  back,  and  had  fallen  upon  the  canoe.  The  deponent 
e>aw  the  canoe  covered  with  blood,  and  the  clothes  that 
Mr.  Keveny  had  on,  bloody,  and  pierced  by  a  sword  and 
a  bullet.  The  Indian  washed  the  clothes,  and  they  divi- 
ded them.  The  tent,  boots,  and  other  effects  were  left 
concealed. — Mr.  Archibald  having  taken  possession  of 
two  or  three  small  boxes  and  desks  containing  a  number  of 
papers,  he  was  cmpWed  a  part  of  the  night  in  reading 
and  burning  them.  The  next  day  he  continued  the  same 
examination  of  papers,  throwing  into  the  water  with  stones 
wrapped  up  in  them,  those  he  found  useless.  Having 
finished,  he  congratulated  the  Bois-Brul^s  on  having  de- 
stroyed that  man,  who,  he  said,  if  he  had  got  to  Red 
River,  had  the  power  of  bringing  a  force  there,  and  have 
killed  them  all.  The  deponent  adds,  that  he  had  Mr. 
Kcveney's  coat  in  his  possession  till  he  came  to  Lake  la 
Pluic,  where  some  one  stole  it  out  of  his  pocket.  lie 
heard  Mr.  Archibald  propose  to  the  Bois-Brul^s  to  go 
down  to  rc-take  Fort  William  with  the  Indians ;  but  ha- 
ving only  three  adherents,  they  set  out  again  for  Bas  de 
la  Riviere, 

His 
BAPTISTE  +  LA  POINTE. 
Mark. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  the 
21st  of  October,  1816. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


APPRNOII. 


liisi 


[I.F.  ] 

Declaration  of  Hubert  Faye. 
BcroRE  Thomas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  one  of  bit  Majeaty's  juii- 
ticet  assigned  to  keep  the  peace  in  the  Upper  Province  of  Ca- 
nada, and  the  Indian  Territories,  and  parts  of  America,  ap- 
peared Hubert  Faye,  of  the  parish  of  La  Prairie,  who  being 
duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists,  declares  : 

Que  sur  la  6n  de  cet  ^t^  il  partit  de  Lac  la  Pluie  dans  le  ca- 
n6t  de  M.  Cadot,  en  compagnie  d'un  autre  candt,  mont^  par  Ic 
bourgeois  M'Donell,  pour  se  rendre  au  Bas  de  la  Rivitire.  Sur 
midi  de  la  quatrieme  joumde,  ils  rencontrerent  deux  petits  ca- 
ndts,  dans  lesquels  se  sent  trouvds  cinq  Bois-Brul^a,  et  un  Mon- 
sieur de  bonne  mine,  prisonnier,  ayant  lea  lers  aux  mains,  pour 
avoir  (disoit  les  Bois-Bruk-s)  tu^  trois  hommes.  Apres  de 
tongues  conferences  entre  eux,  M.  M'Donell  commanda  au  de- 
posant.  La  Pointe,  et  un  Sauvage,  d*embarquer  dans  un  des  pe- 
tits candts  des  Bois-Brul^s,  en  charge  du  prisonnier,  qu'on 
nommoit  M.  Keveney.  Le  Sauvage  se  nommoit  Joseph,  etdoit 
£tre  le  fils  de  la  Perdrix  Blanche.  Etant  parti  de  cet  endroit 
nomm^  la  Pointe  aux  Pins,  le  Sauvage  demanda  au  deposant, 
deux  nuita  consecutifs,  d'assister  a  tuer  le  prisonnier  dans  sa 
tente.  Le  deposant  lui  dit  *'  tuer  est  pas  ban,'*  sur  quui  le  Sau- 
vage repondit,  "Mons.  M'Donell  dira,  *  c'est  bon.*  "  La  cin- 
quieme  journ^e  apres  avoir  quitt^  la  Pointe  aux  Pins,  ils  ren* 
contrerent,  au  soleil  levant,  les  can6ts  de  Mr.  Stuart,  Thomp- 
son, et  M.  Ferries,  qui  apres  quelque  conversation  dirent  au 
deposant  qu'il  pouvoit  retourner,  qu'aucun  candt  ne  descen- 
droit  du  Lac  la  Pluie.  Le  vent  ^tant  fort,  ils  mirent  a  terre,  et 
apres  avoir  gomm^  leur  can6t,il8  marcherent  le  lendemain.  Le 
Sauvage  cette  nuit  avoit  fait  plusieurs  efforts  pour  tuer  I'An- 
glois,  a  quoi  le  deposant  et  son  camarade  s'opposerent  constam- 
ment ;  et  s'^tant  rembarqu^s,  les  deux  Canadiens  et  le  Sauvago, 
pour  se  procurer  des  vivres,  le  Sauvage  ne  voulut  pas  permet- 
tre  qu'ils  rembarquassent  M.  Keveney,  qui  ^toit  rested  sur  la 
greve,  et  comme  c'^toit  le  passage  des  can6ts  ils  le  laisserent 
la.  Apres  six  a  sept  jours  de  marche  et  de  degrats,  pendant 
lesquels  le  Sauvage  et  La  Pointe  eurent  dispute,  le  Sauvage  se 
sauva,  parce  que  le  deposant  lui  avoit  6t^  son  fusil,  dent  il  vou- 
loit  tuer  La  Pointe.  Le  canot  de  M.  Arch^,  (M'Lellan,)  avec 
M.  Grant,  M.  Cadot,  M.  Reinhard,  et  sept  Bois-Brul^s,  arriva  ; 
et  M.  Cadot  trouva  a  redire  au  deposant  de  n'avoir  pas  laisse 
tud  I'Anglois  par  le  Sauvage.  Sur  quoi  M.  Arch^  sortit  du 
canut,  et  frappa  le  deposant  avec  une  percbe,  pour  avoir  pris 
le  fusil  du  Sauvage.  M.  Arche  nous  fit  embarquer,  et  deman- 
da ou  ^toit  le  prisonnier,  ce  que  le  deposant  ne  put  lui  dire, 
i'tant  ecart^.  Arriv^  a  I'endroit  ou  M.  Keveney  avoit  ^t«5  laisse, 
il  ne  s'y  trouva  plus,  et  ce  n'est  qu'au  Haut  des  Dalles,  a  cinq 
ou  six  Iteues  <1o  1^,  qu'on  le  trouva  dans  sa  tente.     Aprcsi  quel- 


I  V 


1 


L.  il 


II 


Si 


m 


liKiii 


APPENDIX. 


que  coMuItation,  M.  ArcM  traita  un  petit  canAt  poar  du  ninif 
et  on  repartit  de  aaite,  laiuant  en  arriere  le  Sauvage  Joaepb, 
Mr.  Reinhard,  le  Boii-Bnil^  Mainvilie,  et  M.  Kevcney.  Ajrant 
fait  quelquet  lieuea  de  chemin,  one  demie  heure  apr^s  avoir 
deborqadi,  ill  entendirent  un  coup  de  fuiil,  sur  auoi  Desmaraii 
■'exclama— **  M  le  chUn,  jt  parii  qu'il  a  tut  U  pritonnier.** 
Quand  le  candt  tournoit  la  pointe,  M .  Areb^,  m.  Cadot,  M. 
Grant,  et  d'autrei,  accoururent  et  demanderent,  $'U$  ravointt 
tui  ? — 4  quoi  une  reponse  affirmative.  Mainville  dit  enauite  au 
depoiant  qu'il  avoit  tir^  son  coup  de  fufil  au  pritonnier  dani  le 
col,  et  au  le  Sergeant  Reinhard  lui  avoit  donn^  des  coups  de 
•abre.  Le  deposant  a  vu  les  babillemens  que  porloit  aupara- 
vant  M.  Keveney,  couverts  de  sang,  perc^  de  coups  de  sanres, 
et  d'une  balle  duns  le  collet.  Le  Sauvage  et  les  Bois-Brul^s 
laverent  les  v£temens,  et  voulurent  en  faire  le  partave,  quand 
Reinbard  le  leur  prit  et  mit  le  tout  dans  un  coflre.  M.  Arch^ 
prit  soin  des  papiers,  aui  ^toient  dans  plusieurs  petites  caisses 
et  bureaux,  qui  furent  laiss^s  dans  le  bois  avec  la  tente,  le  lit, 
et  le  reste  du  butin  du  prisonnier.  Une  partie  de  la  nuit  Alt 
employ^  par  M.  Arcb<!  et  ces  autres  Messieurs  qui  lavent  lire, 
a  reviser  et  lire  ces  papiers,  qu'ils  brdloient  i  mesure.  Le 
lendemain  dans  le  candt  il  eut  la  m£me  occupation,  et  coulant  ^ 
fond  les  papiers,  au  moyens  des  pierrea  envelopp^a  dedans. 
M.  Arche  dit  aux  Bois-Brul^s,  que  c'etoit  bien  avantageux  d'a- 
voir  emp£cb^  a  cet  homme  la  de  se  rendre  au  Fort  William, 
ou  il  auroit  pu  les  ruiner  tous. 

His 
HUBERT  +  FAYE. 
Mark. 
Sworn  at  Fort  William,  the  ' 

2l8tdayofOctober,1816. 

(Signed)  SELKIRK,  J.  P. 

[translation.] 
That  about  the  end  of  this  summer,  he,  Hubert  Faye, 
set  out  from  Lake  la  Pluie  in  Mr.  Cadot^s  canoe,  in  com- 
pany with  another,  in  which  was  the  partner  M'Donell,  to 
1^0  to  Bas  de  la  Riviere. — About  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
flay^s  journey,  they  met  two  small  canoes,  in  which  wore 
five  Bois-Brul^s,  and  a  gentleman  of  good  appearance,  as 
prisoner,  who  was  hand-cuffed,  and  who,  the  Bois-Brulos 
said,  had  killed  three  men.  After  a  long  conference,  Mr. 
M'Donell  ordered  the  deponent,  and  La  Pointe,  and  an 
Indian,  to  embark  in  one  of  these  little  canoes,  and  take 
charge  of  the  prisoner,  whom  they  called  Mr.  Keveny, — 
The  Indian  was  named  Joseph,  the  son  of  the  Whxtt  Par- 
tridge.— Having  set  out  from  Pine  Point,  the  Indian  asked 
the  deponent,  in  the  two  following  nights,  to  help  him  to 
kill  tlie  prisoner  in  his  tent. — The  deponent  said,  "  To 


APVBNOIX. 


Iixxiil 


as 


kill  U  not  good ;" — to  which  the  Indian  aniwered,  "  Mr» 
M'Donell  will  sav,  Itia  good."     The  fiAh  day  after  they 
left  Pine  Point,  they  met  at  lun-riie  the  canoei  of  Messrs. 
Stuart,  Thompson,  and  Ferries,  who,  after  some  conversa* 
tion,  said  to  the  deponent,  that  he  must  return,  as  no  canoe 
was  to  go  from  Lake  la  Pluie. — The  wind  being  violent, 
they  went  ashore,  and  after  having  gummed  their  canoe, 
they  proceeded  in  the  morning,  the  Indian  having  made 
several  attempts  in  the  nieht-time  to  kill  the  Englishman, 
which  the  deponent  and  his  companion  constantly  op- 
posed ; — and  tno  two  Canadians  and  the  Indian  having  re- 
embarked  to  procure  provisions,  the  Indian  would  not  per- 
mit Mr.  Keveny  to  come  on  board,  who  therefore  re- 
mained on  the  beach  ;  and,  as  it  was  the  place  where  ca- 
noes passed,  they  left  him  there. — After  six  or  seven  day'i 
march  and  stoppages,  during  which  the  Indian  and  La 
Point  had  a  quarrel,  the  Indian  went  off,  because  the  de- 
ponent took  away  his  gun,  with  which  he  wanted  to  kill 
La  Pointei — Mr.  Archibald  (M'Lellan,)  with  Mr.  Grant, 
Mr.  Cadot,  Mr.  Reinhard,  and  seven  Bois-Bru]«s  arrived ; 
and  Mr.  Cadot  found  fault  with  the  deponent  for  not  ha- 
ving allowed  the  Indian  to  kill  the   Englishman,  upon 
which  Mr.  Archibald  cot  out  of  the  canoe  and  struck  the 
deponent  with  a  pole  tor  having  taken  the  Indian^s  gun. — 
Mr.  Archibald  then  made  us  embark,  and  asked  where  the 
prisoner  was  ;  which  the  deponent  could  not  tell  him,  as 
they  had  missed  their  way. — When  they  arrived  at  the 
spot  where  Mr.  Keveny  had  been  left,  he  was  not  to  be 
found  ;  but  when  they  reached  the  Haut  des  Dalles,  about 
five  or  six  leagues  further  on,  they  found  him  in  his  tent. — 
After  some  consultation  Mr.  Archibald  bought  a  small  ca- 
noe, for  some  rum,  and  proceeded,  leaving  behind  Joseph, 
Mr.  Reinhard,  the  Bois-Brul^  Mainville,  and  Mr.  Kcvu- 
ney. — Flairing  advanced  some  leagues,  and  about  half  an 
hour  after  they  had  gone  ashore,  they  heard  the  report  of 
a  gun  ;  upoa  which  Desmarais  exclaimed,  ^*  Ah,  the  dog — 
ni  wager  that  he  has  killed  the  prisoner." — When  the 
canoe  turned  the  point,  Mr.  Archibald,  Mr.  Cadot,  Mr. 
Grant,  and  others,  ran  and  asked,  *'  if  they  had  killed 
him  ?" — upon  which  an  answer  was  given  in  the  affirma- 
tive.— Mainville  then  said  to  the  deponent,  that  he  had 
shot  the  prisoner  in  the  neck,  and  that  Sergeant  Rcinhii  rd 
had  stabbed  him  with  his  sword. — The  deponent  saw  the 
clothes  which  Mr.  Keveney  had  worn,  covered  with  blood, 

{>ierced  with  the  sword,  and  with  a  bullet  through  the  col- 
ar. — The  Indian  and  the  Bois-Brub  s  washed  the  clothes, 
and  wanted  to  divide  them,  when  Reinhard  took  them,  and 
put  the  whole  in  a  trunk.    Mr.  Archibuld  took  ciii-i*  oi  ttic 


i 


V 


11 


1 1^1 


, 


I 

•m  \ 

1 


smxma 


itm 


Izxxiv 


APPENDIX. 


papers  which  were  in  several  little  boxes  and  desks,  and 
which  were  left  in  the  woods,  w  ilh  the  tent,  the  bed,  and 
other  property  of  the  prisoner. — A  part  of  the  night  was 
employed  by  Mr.  Archibald  and  tlie  other  gentlemen  who 
could  read,  in  examining  these  papers,  which  they  burnt 
after  reading  them.  Next  day  he  was  similarly  employed 
in  the  canoe,  sinking  the  papers  by  wrapping  stones  in 
them.  Mr.  Archibald  told  the  Bois-Brules,  that  it  was 
very  fortunate  they  had  prevented  that  man  from  getting 
to  Fort  William,  where  he  might  have  ruined  them  all. 

His 
HUBERT  +  FAYE. 
Mark. 


Sworn  at  Fort  William,  the 
21st  day  of  October,  181G. 
(Signed) 


SELKIRK,  J.  P. 


[  K.  K.  ] 

Account  of  the  Transactions  at  Fort  William,  on  Lake  Su- 
perior, in  August  1816,  bi/  Mr,  Fauche,  late  Lieutenant 
of  the  Regiment  De  Meuron. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1816,  orders  arrived  in  Canada 
for  the  reduction  of  the-  Regiment  De  Meuron,  in  which  I 
was  a  lieutenant. — His  Excellency  the  Administrator-in 
chief,  on  communicating  tlie  same  to  the  colonel  of  the 
regiment,  acquainted  him  with  the  advantages  held  out  by 
J»is  Majesty's  government  to  the  officers  and  men  who 
would  wish  to  remain  and  settle  in  that  country.  The 
Earl  of  Selkirk  was  then  at  Montreal ;  and  as  his  Lord- 
ship wished  to  obtain  a  number  of  efficient  settlers  for  his 
colony  at  the  Red  River,  he  agreed  with  several  of  the 
officers  and  privates  to  accompany  him  for  the  purpose  of 
settling  there.  His  Lordship  was  very  particular  in  his 
choice  of  the  men,  as  none  but  those  of  the  best  character, 
and  who  knew  some  of  the  requisite  and  useful  trades  for 
the  settlement,  would  be  accepted.  Engagements  accor- 
dingly were  entered  into  between  them  and  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk,  who  agreed  to  give  the  officers  and  men  a  portion 
of  land,  hi  addition  to  this  the  men  were  to  receive  agri- 
«Miltural  implements,  and  to  ^e  paid  at  the  rate  of  eight 
dollars  per  month  for  working  the  boats  to  their  destina- 
tion. His  Lordship  further  agreed,  that  if  the  men  on  their 
iinival  at  the  settlement,  should  not  wish  to  remain  there, 
llicy  should  be  sent  back  at  his  Lordship's  expense  to 
Montreal,  or  to  Europe,  by  the  ships  from  Hudson's  Bay. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  1816,  three  officers,  myself  being  the 


APPENDIX. 


Ixxxv 


fourth,  and  about  eighty  men,  left  Montreal  and  proceeded 
to  Kingston  in  Upper  Canada.  The  Watteville  Regiment 
had  been  stationed  at  the  latter  place,  and  was  also  under 
orders  to  be  disbanded.  Twenty  of  that  corps  were  en- 
gaged by  Capiain  Matthey,  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  upon  the  same  conditions  with  those 
of  the  regiment  l)e  Meiiron. 

After  having  made  the  necessary  arrangements  for  our 
voyage  at  Kingston,  we  proceeded  along  Lake  Ontario  to 
York,  and  from  thence  to  Lake  Simcoe  and  liake  Huron, 
where  w^e  were  joined  by  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  who  had  re- 
mained several  days  aft^*r  us  at  Montreal.  We  proceeded 
with  his  Lordship  towards  the  Sault  St.  Mary's — about 
thirty  miles  from  which  is  situated  Drummond's  Island,  to 
which  place  his  Lordship  went,  we  continuing  our  route  to 
the  Saiilt,  where  we  remaiKod  a  few  miles  above  the  Rapid. 
A  guard  of  one  sergeant  and  seven  men  had  been  granted 
for  his  LoiiJship's  proieotion,  by  the  Governor  of  Canada; 
and  it  was  fioni  Drummond's  Island  that  they  were  to  ac- 
com|jfiiiy  him,  it  being  ihe  last  garrison  of  the  British  do- 
minions ill  Unit  quarter.  Lord  Selkirk  joined  us  at  the 
Sault  Si.  Maiy'ri.  and  we  had  hardiy  left  that  place,  when 
we  perceived  tv/o  canoes,  in  one  of  wliich  was  Mr.  Miles 
Macdoncll,  who  brought  the  dismal  intelligence  of  the  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  colony. 

After  this  information  f.ord  Selkirk  did  not  proceed  to 
the  Fonddu  Lac,  as  was  first  intended,  but  went  to  Fort 
William  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  intelligence  as  to  the 
aifair  at  the  Red  River.  His  Lordship  applied  to  Mr.  As- 
kin  and  Mr.  Ermatingcr,  two  rnagisirates,  to  accompany 
him,  but  the  private  alfairs  of  these  two  gentlemen  pre- 
vented them. 

We  arrived  at  Fort  William  on  the  12th  of  August,  and 
pitched  our  tents  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  about 
half  a  mile  from  the  Fort.  On  the  saiae  day  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk  sent  Caj:tain  D'Orsonncns  with  a  letter  to  Mr. 
M'Gillivray,  (the  principal  Agent  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany at  Fort  William,)  reiiuesting  him  to  release  several 
Jteople  who  had  been  present  at  tiie  aftair  of  the  Red  River, 
i-om  their  confinement,  but  Mr.  M'Gillivray  did  not  admit 
that  they  had  been  uirested,  and  they  came  over  to  us  im- 
mediately afterwards. 

The  Earl  of  Selkirk  was  engaged  the  rest  of  the  day  in 
taking  evidence  from  those  people,  and  he  issued  a  warrant 
on  the  13th  against  Mr.  M'Gillivray,  who  immediately 
came  over  to  his  Lordship's  tent,  with  two  other  partners, 

o  o 


1 


ki 


I 


\'  'i 


Ixxxvi 


APPENDIX. 


'>/■; 


one,  Kenneth  M-Kenzic,  the  other M'Laughlin,  whom 

he  brought  as  bail ;  but  charges  being  also  preferred  against 
those  two  gentlemen,  they  were  likewise  made  prisoners. 
After  his  lordship  had  been  engaged  some  time  with  Mr. 
M'Gillivray,  he  determined  on  arresting  the  other  partners 
who  were  still  in  the  Fort,  and  accordingly  sent  over  the 
constable  with  warrants,  accompanied  by  about  twenty- 
five  men,  with  Captain  D'Orsonnens,  Mr.  Allen,  Mr.  Be- 
cher,  and  myself.  We  were  distributed  in  two  boats,  and 
arrived  shortly  at  the  Fort  where  the  constables  landed, 
being  accompanied  by  all  the  gentlemen.  The  men  re- 
mained in  the  boats,  but  as  some  resistance  was  appre- 
hended, they  were  ready  to  support  the  constables  in  the 
execution  of  their  duty,  if  required.  Between  two  and 
three  hundred  Indians  and  Canadians,  in  the  North-West 
Company's  service,  were  stan(|ing  outside  of  the  gate. 
The  partners  who  were  to  be  arrested  stood  in  the  gate  of 
the  fort ;  and  the  constables  being  informed  of  their  names, 
proceeded  in  executing  the  warrants — when  one  of  the 
partners,  John  M'Donald,  declared  that  he  would  not  sub- 
mit to  the  warrant,  or  allow  any  body  to  enter  the  fort  un- 
til Mr.  M'Gillivary  was  liberated.  At  the  same  time  the 
gate  was  partly  shut,  and  the  resistance  which  was  made 
forced  the  constables  to  call  for  assistance.  The  men 
rushed  out  of  the  boats  with  their  arms,  and  soon  cleared 
thoir  way  through  the  gate.  They  were  then  ordered  to 
take  Mr.  M'Donald,  who  was  exceedingly  violent,  and  to 
conduct  him  to  the  boats.  The  others  peaceably  submit- 
ted to  the  warrants,  and  appointed  two  clerks  for  the  man- 
agement of  their  concerns  during  their  absence.  The  bu- 
gle which  had  sounded  when  the  constables  first  called  for 
assistance,  was  a  signal  that  resistance  was  made  at 
the  fort,  and  for  the  remainder  of  our  party  to  join  us. 
They  accordingly  came  over,  and  every  thing  being,  by 
that  time,  quiet,  they  stood  outside  of  the  fort. 

The  prisoners  were  then  sent  to  his  Lordship,  who,  after 
having  examined  them,  allowed  them  to  return  for  the 
night  to  their  respective  apartments  in  the  fort,  upon  the 
condition  that  they  would  not  attempt  any  hostilities,  to 
which  they  pledged  their  word  of  honour,  and  went  over  to 
the  fort.  Wc  all  returned  to  our  encampment,  with  the 
exception  of  twenty  men,  and  Lieutenant  de  Graffenreid, 
who  remained  during  the  night  in  the  fort ;  and  his  Lord- 
ship issued  a  warrant,  ordering  the  papers  of  the  North- 
West  Company  to  be  sealed. 

Though  the  partners  of  the  North-West  Company  had 
pedged  their  word  of  honour,  that  all  should  remain  as  his 


n 


APPENDIX. 


Ixxxvii 


in,  whom 
d  against 
irisoners. 

with  Mr. 
r  partners 
t  over  the 
t  twenty- 
,  Mr.  Be- 
loats,  and 
s  landed^ 

men  re- 
as  appre- 
es  in  the 

two  and 
)rth-We8t 
the  gate, 
le  gate  of 
iir  names, 
ne  of  the 
i  not  sub- 
le  fort  un- 
i  time  the 
was  made 
The  men 
in  cleared 
rdered  to 
nt,  and  to 
ly  submit- 
r  the  man- 

The  bu- 
called  for 

made  at 
0  join  us. 
being,  by 

Dvho,  afler 
n  for  the 

upon  the 
tiUties,  to 
nt  over  to 

with  the 
afTenreid, 
his  Lord- 
le  North- 

ipany  had 
nain  as  bis 


Lordship  had  ordered,  we  received  the  intelligence  that  a 
canoe  had  been  sent  oflT  during  the  night,  loaded  with  am* 
munition  and  arms,  and  that  many  papers  had  been  burnt 
in  the  kitchen  of  the  mess-house,  by  the  partners.  We 
found  eight  barrels  of  gunpowder  lying  in  a  field  near  the 
fort,  which  had  also  been  taken  away,  during  the  night,  out 
of  the  powder  magazine.  We  also  found,  in  a  barn  among 
some  hay,  about  fifty  stand  of  guns,  which  were  apparently 
fresh  loaded  and  primed. 

From  these  discoveries,  it  was  suspected  that  a  surprise 
would  be  attempted  by  the  Canadian  servants  and  the  In- 
dians in  the  North-West  Company's  employment ;  and  most 
of  them,  therefore,  were  sent  to  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
Their  canoes,  also,  were  secured  within  the  fort.  The 
prisoners  were  more  strictly  guarded,  and  as  no  reliance 
could  be  put  on  their  word  of  honour,  they  were  taken  to  a 
separate  building,  and  guarded  as  close  prisoners.  His 
Lordship  ordered  our  tents  to  be  removed,  and  pitched  in 
front  of  the  fort,  that  we  might  be  better  able  to  repulse  a 
sudden  attack,  if  attempted  by  the  North-West  Company. 
After  having  taken  all  necessary  measures  for  our  own  se- 
curity, Lord  Selkirk  proceeded  with  the  examination  of 
the  prisoners,  the  criminality  of  whom  appeared  to  his 
Lordship  to  be  such  as  to  justify  him  in  sending  them  under 
an  escort  to  York,  in  Upper  Canada.  He  requested  that 
I  would  take  charge  of  the  prisoners,  and  escort  them  safely 
to  their  destination.  We  sot  out  on  the  18th  of  August, 
in  three  canoes,  provided  with  every  thing  which  I  thought 
necessary  for  our  voyage.  We  proceeded  along  Lake  Su- 
perior, and,  about  a  week  after  our  departure,  we  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  one  of  our  canoes.  As  this  has  been  im- 
puted to  my  insisting  upon,  and  forcing  the  embarkation  of 
the  party  that  day,  1  trust  that  the  following  account  will 
be  sufficient  to  justify  my  proceedings. 

In  the  morning  of  the  2Gth  of  August,  we  proceeded, 
with  a  light  b'^oze,  and  stopped,  as  usual,  to  take  our  din- 
ner at  one  o'clock,  at  an  isilund  about  fifteen  miles  from  the 
Sault  St.  Mary,  where  we  expected  to  arrive  thesame  even- 
ing. During  our  dinner  the  wind  increased,  but,  being  at 
the  lee  side  of  the  island,  we  did  not  feel  its  violence.  Mr. 
M'Gillivray,  who  had  upwards  of  twenty  years  experience 
in  this  navigation,  and  whom  1  itivariably  consulted  during 
our  voyage,  was,  upon  this  occasion,  especially  questioned 
by  me  ;  and,  on  asking  whether  he  thought  it  dangerous  to 
proceed,  he  replied  that  there  would  not  be  the  least  dan- 
ger, if  the  guides  of  the  canoes  did  their  duty.     Upon  this 


Ixiiviii 


APPENDIX. 


..^ 


r: 


we  left  the  island,  and  soon  felt  the  violence  of  the  wind, 
which  increased  every  moment.  It  was  too  late  to  put 
back,  and  the  wind  being  west,  and  consequently  fair,  we 
proceeded  under  close  reefed  sails,  and  steered  for  the  first 
point  of  land.  But,  having  taken  in  a  good  deal  of  water, 
we  thought  of  steering  towards  a  small  island  which  lay  on 
our  left,  in  order  to  save  ourselves  if  possible.  On  arriving 
near  this  island,  one  of  our  canoes  upset  on  the  shoals  ;  and 
unfortunately,  notwithstanding  all  the  eflorts  made  by  the 
other  two  canoes,  nine  people  were  lost  out  of  twenty-one, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  one  sergeant, 
and  one  man  of  our  late  Regiment  De  Meuron,  and  six 
more,  Indians  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company. 
We  succeeded  in  landing  at  this  island,  and,  after  having 
lightened  our  canoes  by  taking  out  the  baggage,  we  went 
out  again,  to  save,  if  possible,  some  more  of  our  unfortu- 
nate people.  We  soon  reached  the  place  where  the  canoe 
was  wrecked,  but  could  not  find  any  body.  The  canoe  was 
dashed  to  pieces,  but  we  succeeded  in  saving  a  few  trunks 
which  were  afloat.  Some  time  after  the  accident,  we  went 
in  search  of  the  bodies,  and  found,  near  the  island,  that  of 
Mr.  K.  M'Kenzie.  Every  possible  measure  was  taken  to 
restore  him  to  life,  but  without  succesj!.  We  also  found 
the  bodies  of  the  sergeant,  and  of  several  Indians,  whom  we 
buried  in  the  island.  The  following  day  we  departed  from 
the  island,  with  the  body  of  Mr.  M'Kenzie,  assisted  by 
some  of  the  neighbouring  Indians,  and  arrived  shortly  at 
thcSaultSt.  Mary's,  where  Mr.  M'Kenzie  was  buried. 

After  the  foregoing  statemenl,  will  it  be  believed  that  I 
was  the  principal  cause  of  this  unfortunate  accident  ?  Is  it 
probable  that  1  would  have  exposed  myself  to  so  great  dan- 
ger, if  I  had  in  the  least  anticipated  it  ?  Or  could  I  have 
had  any  reason  for  exposing  Captain  de  Lorimier,  a  friend, 
who  was  the  only  person  whom  1  could  trust  in  tbat  disa- 
greeable voyage.'  He  v/as  in  the  canoe  that  upset,  and  for- 
tunately escaped  the  fury  of  the  wavea.  It  is  unnecessary 
further  to  defend  myself,  as  I  have  suflicient  witnesses  to 
testify  that  I  consulted  Mr.  M'Gillivray,  and  followed  his 
advice. 

After  we  had  buried  the  body  of  Mr.  Kenneth  M'Kenzie, 
we  left  the  Sault  St.  Mary's  accompanied  by  Mr.  Koch- 
blave,  a  partner  of  the  North-West  Company,  who  by 
taking  hisown  canoe,  enabled  us  to  proceed  with  the  people 
who  had  been  saved.  On  the  3d  of  September  wc  arrived 
at  York,  the  capital  of  Upffer  Canada.  On  in((uiring  after 
the  Attorney-General,  1  was  informed  that  he  had  gone  on 


APPENDIX. 


Ixuiz 


V    ' 


his  circuit  to  Kingston,  and  that  I  would  find  him  there,  or 
at  Brockville.  I  was  advised  by  the  magistrates  of  York, 
and  by  several  other  persons,  to  proceed  to  these  places  ; 
in  consequence  of  which  we  left  York  on  the  following  day, 
and  at  Kingston  we  were  informed  that  the  Attorney  Gene- 
ral was  at  Brockville.  We  soon  arrived  at  that  place, 
where  I  hoped  to  be  unburthened  from  so  disagreeable  a 
charge  ;  but  the  prisoners  having  appUed  for  a  writ  of  Ha- 
beas Corpus,  I  was  charged  to  convey  them  to  Montreal, 
where  we  arrived  on  the  10th  of  September,  and  where  the 
prisoners  were  all  admitted  to  bail. 

Private  affairs  having  called  me  to  England,  I  lefl  Mon- 
treal in  the  beginning  of  November  last ;  and  it  is  after 
having  read  a  Publication  by  the  North-West  Company, 
entitled  "  A  Narrative  of  Occurrences  in  the  Indian  Coun- 
tries of  North  America,"  that  1  make  this  true  Statement, 
which  I  hope  will  take  away  the  unfavourable  opinion 
which  the  injurious  publication  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny may  have  made  on  the  public. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  malignity  of  the  allusions  which 
are  levelled  by  the  North-West  Company  at  the  character 
of  the  late  regiment  De  Meuron,  some  of  whom  chose  to 
accompany  the  Earl  of  Selkirk.  They  are  called  worthless 
plunderers  and  deserters  from  Buonaparte's  armies  in 
Spain,  from  whence  the  North-West  Company  assert  they 
were  sent  to  America.  This  shows  completely  how  little 
regard  they  have  for  the  feelings  of  others,  and  what  a 
change  there  is  in  their  opinions,  as  soon  as  their  interest  is 
concerned.  The  ofiiccrs  of  the  regiment  De  Meuron  have 
always  been  admitted  in  society  in  Canada,  alid  especially 
at  Montreal,  where  the  agents  and  other  persons  connected 
with  the  North-West  Company  form  a  great  part  of  it. — 
We  have  received  attentions  from  the  latter  without  the 
least  reflection  having  been  cast  on  our  characters  ;  but  as 
soon  as  we  agreed  to  become  settlers  with  the  Earl  of  Sel- 
kirk, we  were  accused,  as  before-mentioned,  of  the  grossest 
misconduct. 

The  officers  of  De  Meuron's  Regiment  had  been  induced 
(after  a  mature  consideration  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Char- 
ter, which  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  was  pleased  to  submit  to 
our  notice,  and  which  appeared  to  us  unexceptionable, 
particularly  as  it  had  received  the  sanction  of  the  most 
eminent  counsel  in  England)  to  accept  his  offers  to  become 
settlers  in  his  colony  at  the  Red  River.  I  feel  it,  there- 
fore, a  duty  incumbent  on  me  as  one  of  the  officers  ol" 
that  Regiment,  to  contradict  those  assertions  so  injuriouii  to 


i 


r.j 


1 

HI 


i' 


f  I 


M 


so 


APPENDIX. 


the  character  of  men,  who,  for  many  years,  have  most  ho- 
nourably and  faitlifully  served  his  Majesty ;  and  who,  on 
the  reduction  of  the  regiment,  had  agreed  to  accompany 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  not  for  the  purpose  (as  has  been  false- 
ly stated)  to  be  employed  by  his  lordship  in  a  military  ex- 
pedition (though  the  men  must  have  had  a  warlike  appear- 
ance, from  wearing  the  new  clothing  issued  to  them  from 
the  regimental  stores)  and  to  commit  hostilities  and  de- 
predations on  British  subjects — but  for  the  purpose  of  be- 
coming useful  members  of  his  Lordship^s  Settlement. 

With  respect  to  the  late  Regiment  De  Mcuron  being 
called  plunderers  and  deserters  from  Buonaparte's  armies  in 
Spain,  it  is  well  known  that  in  1809,  when  the  regiment 
was  at  Gibraltar,  his  Majesty's  Government  authorized  that 
all  the  Germans  and  Piedmontese  whom  the  conscription 
had  forced  to  enter  Buonaparte's  armies,  from  which  they 
escaped  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  offered,  should  be  enlist- 
ed in  his  Majesty's  service,  in  consequence  of  which  many 
came  over  and  received  the  regular  bounty.  The  regiment 
went  the  same  year  to  Malta,  where  it  remained  till  1813, 
when  it  was  ordered  to  North  America.  On  its  departure 
from  the  island,  his  Excellency  Lieutenant-General  Oakes, 
the  Governor,  issued  the  following  Garrison  Order : — 


Garrison  Order. 


Malta,  May  Ath,  1813. 


"  Lieutenant-General  Oakes  cannot  suffer  the  Regiment 
De  Meuron  to  quit  this  garrison,  where  they  have  so  long 
been  stationed  under  his  command,  without  assuring  them 
of  the  satisfaction  which  their  good  conduct  and  attention 
io  military  discipline  have  constantly  afforded  him,  and 
which  have  been  equally  conspicuous  in  every  rank.  They 
will  embark  from  hence  as  fine  and  well  appointed  a  regi- 
ment as  any  in  his  Majesty's  service. 

"  The  Lieutenant-General  has  no  doubt  but  by  their 
conduct  and  gallantry,  on  the  desirable  service  on  which 
they  are  about  to  be  employed,  they  will  confirm  the  high 
opinion  he  has  formed  of  them,  and  will  equally  merit  the 
praise  and  approbation  of  the  General  under  whose  orders 
they  will  soon  be  placed,  to  whom  he  shall  not  fail  justly 
to  set  forth  their  merits. 

"  He  begs  leave  to  assure  the  regiment  of  his  warmest 
wishes  for  their  glory  and  success,  and  of  the  sincere  inte- 
r«!st  he  shall  ever  take  in  their  welfare. 

(Signed)  "P.  ANDERSON, 

''  Deputy  Adj.  Gen." 


-i?.wr.V«-:;>w*|(;8|»<[W.-R--  TiK?r^.-«BF*^'T"  '• 


APPENDIX. 


XC 


When  the  regiment  was  finally  disbanded  in  Canada,  his 
Excellency  Sir  John  Sherbrooke  issued  also  a  Garrison  Or- 
der, which  would  do  honour  to  any  regiment. 


Garrison  Order. 


D.  A.  G.  Office, 
Quebec,  July  26th,  1816. 


"  In  parting  with  the  Regiments  De  Meuron  and  Watte- 
ville,  both  of  which  corps  his  Excellency  has  had  the  good 
fortune  of  having  had  under  his  command  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  Sir  John  Sherbrooke  desires  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel De  Meuron,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  May,  and  the  ofH- 
cers  and  men  of  those  corps  will  accept  his  congratulations, 
on  having,  by  their  conduct  in  the  Canadas,  maintained  (he 
reputation  which  they  have  deservedly  acquired  by  their 
former  services. 

"  His  Excellency  can  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that 
his  Majesty's  service  in  these  provinces  has  derived  impor- 
tant advantages,  during  the  late  war,  from  the  steadiness, 
discipline,  and  efficiency  of  these  corps. 

(Signed)  ''  J.  HARVEY,  Lt.  Col. 

"  Deputy  Adjutant-General.''' 

As  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  any  British  General 
would  bestow  commendations  where  they  are  not  due,  can 
it  be  believed  that  men  deserving  such  praise  would  be  con- 
taminated, and  become  plunderers,  from  accompanying  an 
English  nobleman,  and  wishing  to  become  settlers  under  the 
protection  ofa  government  whom  they  had  learned  to  appre- 
ciate during  the  time  they  served  it .'  The  North-Wrst 
Company  also  accuse  the  men  of  being  drunk  on  (he  day 
they  entered  Fort  William.  This  1  declare  to  be  false,  as 
not  a  man  of  them  was,  in  the  slightest  degree,  intoxicated, 
or  had  the  means  of  being  so.  Indeed,  I  may  only  refer 
to  Messrs.  Brumby  and  Misani's  Declaration,  to  ask,  whe- 
ther it  is  probable  that  they  would  have  omitted  so  strong 
a  charge  against  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  and  his  party,  and 
whether  the  North-West  Company,  under  whose  influence 
they  made  their  Deposition,  would  have  neglected  to  make 
them  corroborate  what  was  so  maliciously  stated  for  the 
purpose  of  defaming  my  brother  officers  and  myself,  and 
the  men  of  our  late  regiment,  then  with  us  at  Fort  William. 
(Signed)  G.  A.  FAUCHE, 

Late  Lieutenant  De  Mcuron's  Regiment. 
4,  Queen  Square,  fVestminster, 
June  24/A,  1817.  ^^ 


fi: 


A 


M 


I'f 


^  ll 


hi 


f» 


#«k 


XCI 


APPENDIX. 


[L.  L.] 

J^arrntive  of  Mr,  John  MMtbb. 

I  ARRIVED  at  Fort  William,  in  company  with  twelve  boats 
or  battcaiix,  in  which  were  two  captains,  two  lieutenants, 
with  about  one  hundred  men,  late  of  the  regiment  of  Meu- 
ron.*  We  pitched  our  tents  about  a  mile  above  the  fort, 
where  we  found  the  encampment  of  Earl  Selkirk,  with  a 
body  guard  of  six  men,  and  one  non-commissioned  ofticer 
of  the  37th  regiment,  from  Drummond's  Island,  and  Cap- 
tain Lorimicr,  with  an  hidian  Chief,  from  Cockenewaga,  in 
Lower  Canada. 

Early  the  13th  of  August,  bis  Lordship  communicated 
his  intention  to  me,  of  appointing  me,  in  company  with  Mr. 
M'Pherson,  to  execute  a  warrant  for  arresting  William 
M'Gillivray,  Esq.  agent  of  the  North- West  Company.  In 
the  afternoon  we  proceeded  to  the  execution  of  our  office, 
in  a  batteau,  with  nine  men,  who  had  arms  concealed  in  the 
vessel.  On  arriving  opposite  the  gate,  we  lantied,  and  pro- 
ceeded into  the  fort,  through  a  number  of  men,  in  and  about 
the  entry:  the  most  part  of  our  companions  followed  with- 
out their  arms,  and  stood  in  the  gateway.  Calling  for  Mr. 
M'Gillivray,  we  were  desired  to  enter  his  apartment,  when 
the  warrant  was  instantly  served.  He  acted  as  a  gentleman, 
read  the  warrant,  and  immediately  prepared  for  accompa- 
nying us,  at  the  same  time  requiring  time  to  converse  with 
(wo  of  his  partners,  (Mr.  Kenneth  M'Kenzie,  and  Mr.  John 
McLaughlin.)  the  purport  of  their  conversation  was,  that 
they  should  accompany  him  to  the  Earl's  tent,  and  be- 
come bail.  This  was  assented  to,  and,  after  he  had  tinish- 
cd  a  letter  he  had  been  interrupted  in  writing,  the  three 
gentlemen  accompanied  us,  in  a  canoe  of  their  own,  by 
their  joint  desire.  Soon  after  their  arrival,  his  Lordship 
desired  that  I  and  my  above  companion  in  office,  should 
proceed  and  arrest  Mr.  Kenneth  M'Kenzie  and  Mr.  John 
McLaughlin.  This  done,  we  were  desired  to  proceed  again 
to  the  fort,  in  company  with  Captain  D'Orsonnens,  Lieute- 
nant Fauchc,and  about  twenty-tive  men,  late  of  the  Meuron 
regiment,  to  arrest  the  other  partners  in  the  fort.  We 
landed,  and  proceeded  to  the  gate,  as  before,  where  several 
of  the  proprietors  were  standing,  and  a  number  of  men, 


*  There  were  eighty  of  the  De  Meuron,  and  twenty  of  the  De  Walteville  Regi- 
ment*. 


.~-ftK. 


-'— ua.  -asi^MltMVa 


APPENDIX* 


XCUt 


clvelmafs 
eiitcnants, 
t  of  Men- 
the  fort, 
rk,  with  a 
led  officer 
and  Cap- 
lewaga,  in 

nunicated 
'  with  Mr. 
J  William 
iany.     In 
our  office, 
iled  in  the 
,  and  pro- 
and  about 
wed  with- 
ig  for  Mr. 
ent,  when 
entJeinan, 
accompa- 
erse  with 
Mr.  John 
was,  that 
,  and  be- 
lad  tinish- 
the  three 
own,  by 
Lordship 
h  should 
Mr.  John 
sed  again 
,  Lieute- 
'  Meuron 
rt.     We 
J  several 
of  men, 

!ville  Rngj. 


(their  servants)  and  many  Indians,  were  assembled.  The 
warrant  was  served  on  two  of  the  gentlemen,  but,  on 
approaching  the  third,  resistance  was  actually  made,  and  a 
declaration  uttered,  that  no  further  submission  would  be 
given  to  the  execution  of  my  duty,  till  Mr.  M'Gillivray  was 

S'iven  up.  In  consequence,  I  was  nearly  shut  out  of  the 
ort  by  attempts  to  close  one  leaf  of  the  gates.  Mr. 
M'Pherson  was,  also,  in  the  same  predicnment.  At  this 
moment  I  expressed  the  necessity  of  support  to  Captain 
D'Orsonnens,  who,  with  much  alacrity,  aided  by  several 
of  his  men,  instantly  rushed  in,  and  prevented  the  gate 
from  being  closed.  The  Captain  ordered  the  resister  to  be 
seized,  and  put  on  bourd  one  of  the  boats.  Mr.  M^Pher* 
son  and  I  then  advanced  into  the  fort,  assisted  by  Lieu« 
tenant  Fauche.  Captain  D'Orsonnens  quickly  followed* 
with  the  rest  of  the  men,  who  were  all  armed.  They  ran 
forward,  and,  in  a  moment^  took  possession  of  two  small 
cannon  that  were  placed  in  the  court  within  the  gate.  The 
Canadians  then  dispersed  on  all  sides,  and  no  further  signs 
of  resistance  were  made.  We  then  proceeded  to  the  regu- 
lar execution  of  our  duty,  by  the  arrest  of  the  other  gentle- 
men named  in  the  warrant.  The  number  of  the  men  in  the 
fort  was  (by  report)  upwards  of  two  hundred,  and  many  In- 
dians. When  signs  of  resistance  occurred  at  the  gate,  the 
bugle  was  sounded,  upon  which  Captain  Matthey,  and  the 
rest  of  our  men,  instantly  left  our  encampment,  and  were 
soon  at  the  fort  also.  Much  praise  is  due  to  Captain  D'Or- 
sonnens,  for  his  cool  and  determined  conduct.  Lieutenant 
Fauche  co-operated  with  the  most  laudable  zeal  and  correct- 
ness, and  the  men  behaved  with  the  most  exemplary  pro- 
priety. Captain  D'Orsonnens  and  Mr.  Allan  remained  at 
the  fort,  to  execute  another  warrant,  which  had  been  issued, 
to  search  for,  and  secure,  the  papers  of  the  persons  arrested, 
for  the  safety  of  which  a  guard  wasleft  in  the  fort,  and  cen* 
tries  about  the  places  which  were  supposed  necessary. 

The  gentlemen,  Mr.  Alexander  M'Kenzie.  John  McDo- 
nald, Hugh  M'Gillis,  Simon  Fraser,  Daniel  M'Kenzie,  and 
Allan  M'Donald,  being  thus  compelled  to  submit  to  the  war- 
rant, accompanied  me  in  two  canoes  to  Earl  Selkirk's  en- 
campment, and,  after  remaining  a  short  time  in  his  Lord- 
ship's  tent,  were  all  permitted  to  retire  to  there  own  quar- 
ters in  the  fort,  and  were  left  at  large,  promising,  on  their 
word  of  honour,  that  no  attempts  of  resistance  should  be 
made,  nor  any  hostile  measures  countenanced  or  permitted, 
la  consequence,  however,  of  information,  obtained  early 
next  morning,  of  clandestine  preparations  of  hostility,  car- 

1'  p  ^ 


v5 


n 


iC 


fis.M.i'fmjmEfiSe,-^    _..^,, 


M>tt>te^;iiMiiiK  .-^^Mi 


'^ 


K^m 


^1 


fT' 


t?!! 


ZCIT 


APPENDIX. 


ried  on  durine  the  night,  a  warrant  was  issued  out  by  the 
Earl  of  Selicirk,  for  a  search  for  armst  and,  in  executing  this, 
four  rases  of  guns,  eight  or  more  in  each,  and  forty  fowling- 
piecea,  loose,  loaded  and  primed,  were  found  in  a  hay-loH, 
or  barn,  concealed :  by  every  appearance,  this  had  been 
done  during  the  course  of  the  nisht.  Information  was  also 
obtained,  that  eight,  or  more,  barrels  of  gunnowder  had 
been  secretly  sent  out  of  the  fort.  Further,  that  a  canoe 
had  been  sent  away,  with  powder  and  guns,  from  the  fort, 
during  the  night.  In  consequence  of  these  discoveries,  the 
Earl  judged  it  necessary  to  take  more  effectual  precautions 
for  our  security.  The  greatest  part  of  the  Canadian  voya- 
guers,  at  the  fort,  in  the  service  of  the  North-West  Compa- 
ny, were  ordered  to  remove  their  tents  to  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  and  our  own  encampment  was  brought  over, 
and  formed  immediately  before  the  gate  of  the  fort,  in  which 
also  additional  centries  were  placed ;  and  the  prisoners,  who 
had  broke  their  parole,  were  more  strictly  guarded,  but  still 
were  left  in  apartments  of  their  own,  notwithstanding  that 
a  very  good  prison  was  found  in  the  fort. 

The  forenoon  of  August  1 5th,  Lieutenant  Graffenride, 
and  several  men,  found  the  eight  barrels  of  gunpowder 
above  mentioned,  being  about  half  a  mile  from  the  fort, 
laying  uncovered  in  a  swampy  spot,  among  burnt  willows, 
the  indirect  path«way  among  the  long  grass  lately  trod 
down,  leading  thereto,  pointing  out  the  certainty  of  its 
having  been  placed  there  the  previous  night. 

The  same  day,  Mr.  M'Gillivray,  Alexander  M'Kenzie, 
Kenneth  M'Kenzie,  John  M'Donald,  Hugh  M-Giilis,  Si- 
mon Fraser,  John  McLaughlin,  and  Allan  M'Donald,  were 
each  respectively  called  before  his  Lordship,  who  previous- 
ly hud  desired  the  attendance  of  Captains  Matthey  and  Lori* 
roier,  Uieutenants  Mcsani  and  Brumby,  Mr.  Bcecher,  and 
myself,  seated  with  his  Lordship  ;  during  the  time  the  an- 
swers  of  each  individual  were  given  to  such  questions  as 
were  proposed,  Messrs.  Allan  and  Spencer  noted  down 
their  declarations.  Previous  to  the  examination,  each  was 
given  to  understand,  that  it  was  perfectly  optional  whe- 
ther they  should  answer  or  not. 

(Signed)  JOHN  M'NABB. 

Fort  William,  \7th  August,  1816. 


<AV^' 


A* 


^^-.^aa^-. 


_!j«**y«i.rt 


I'^'^mifm^Km 


APPENDIX. 


XCV 


>m  by  the 
uting  thin, 
y  fowline- 

hay.loft, 
had  been 

was  also 
wder  had 
t  a  canoe 

ihe  fort, 
'eries,  the 
ecautions 
ian  voya- 

Cooipa- 
osite  side 
ght  over, 
in  which 
•era,  who 
»  but  still 
ding  that 

ilTenride, 
npowder 
the  fort, 
willows, 
ely  trod 
'y  of  its 

'Kenzie, 
His,   Si- 
Id,  were 
revious- 
ridLori- 
ler,  and 
the  an- 
tions  as 
I  down 
ich  was 
I  whe- 

NABB. 


[  M.  M.  ] 

Deposition  of  AUxandtr  Fraser. 


District  of  Montreal^ 


Alexander    Fraser,    of 


:/  of  Montreatf  ) 
Province  o/Lower  Canada,  \  River  Du  Ch^ine,  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Montreal,  blacksmith,  being  duly  sworn,  deposeth, 
and  saitb.  That  about  the  spring  of  the  year  1 8 1 3,  he  was 
engaged  as  a  blacksmith  in  the  service  of  the  North-West 
Company  for  the  space  of  three  years.  That  he  was  shortly 
afterwards  sent  from  La  Chine  to  Fort  William,  where  he 
remained  during  the  whole  period  of  his  service,  and  faitli- 
fullv  performed  his  duty  until  the  end  of  his  engagement, 
in  the  spring  of  1816.  That  after  his  time  of  service  was 
expired,  he  expressed  his  desire  to  return  to  Montreal,  and 
also  his  wish  to  receive  his  account,  and  to  be  paid  his  wa- 
ges :  that  he  was  told  to  continue  his  work  ;  which  he  re- 
fused to  do,  unless  he  was  paid.  That  he  was  then  pro- 
mised that  he  should  be  paid  for  his  past  services,  and  for 
such  other  work  as  he  should  perform.  That,  relying  on 
this  promise,  he  began  anew  to  labourin  their  service,  but 
without  entering  into  any  engagement  for  any  limited  time 
or  any  specific  services,  excepting  to  be  paid  for  such 
work  as  he  should  perform,  were  it  more  or  less. 

That,  after  the  arrival  at  Fort  William  of  one  Bourke 
and  others,  who  had  been  brought  thither  in  the  North- 
Wcst  canoes,  after  having  escaped  the  massacre  at  Red 
River,  he  was  desired  by  the  said  Bourke  to  accompany 
him  in  a  visit  to  one  ChSitelain,  a  person  in  the  service  of 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  who  was  encamped  upon  a  small  island 
at  a  little  distance  from  Fort  William. 

That  he  went  accordingly  with  the  said  Bourke  to  see 
Chatclain,  and  was  desired  by  the  said  Chatelain  to  sell 
him  some  skins  of  the  Orignal  for  the  purpose  of  making 
shoes,  which  ChAtclain  said  his  men  were  much  in  wantoA 

That  this  deponaut  had  three  skins  of  the  Orignttl  lea- 
ther, his  own  private  property,  which  he  told  Chatelain  he 
would  let  him  have.  That  this  circumstance  came  after- 
wards to  the  knowledge  of  the  Hon.  William  M'Gillivray, 
who  sent  a  man  to  take  up  this  deponent.  That  this  depo- 
nent told  the  man  there  was  no  occasion  to  take  him  up, 
that  he  would  go  voluntarily  to  the  said  William  M'Giilivray, 
which  he  in  etlect  did.  That,  when  arrived  in  the  presence 
of  the  said  William  M'Giilivray,  the  lattertold  the  depo- 
nent that  he  had  been  acting  treacherously  in  selling  skins 
to  his  (M'Gillivray's)  enemies.     That  the  deponent  then 


Q 


I 


■D 


^^^J 


% 


rV 


.,^^-*^* 


^jM^. 


JJwJ*  '^^^^CuikMtri 


XCVI 


appbudix. 


0»; 


It 


replied,  thnt  ho  did  not  knovr  whose  cnemieB  ho  had  been 
bargaining  with,  but  they  were  in  want  of  skins,  and  this 
deponent  had  a  right  to  sell  his  own  property,  and  should 
deliver  the  vkins  tie  had  promined.  That  the  said  M'Gilli« 
vrav  then  threatened  this  deponent  with  imprisonment,  if 
he  had  any  further  connection  with  Chfttelain.  That  he 
afterwards  took  the  said  three  skins,  and  delivered  them  to 
the  said  Chfttelain,  at  a  Httle  distance  from  Fort  William. 
That  this  ..  ircumstance  also  came  afterwards  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  said  William  M*Gillivrav,  and  on  the  morning 
following  the  delivery  of  the  skins,  wh.le  this  deponent  was 
|ret  ill  bed,  he  was  directed  to  get  up  .\nd  go  to  Dr.  Mac- 
auglilin,  one  of  the  North- West  partners  ;  when  he  came 
into  Dr.  Maclaughlin's  presence,  the  Doctor  called  out  to 
him,  "  You  damned  rascal,  how  durst  yoi  sell  any  thing  to 
*'  our  enemies  ?  1  would  hang  you  for  a  c  ipper."  The  de- 
ponent replied,  '*  You  canU  hang  me  foi  that,  it  is  not  so 
*'easy  done.'* — That  the  Doctor,  who  possessed  great  bodily 
strength,  immediately  laid  his  hands  o  i  the  deponent's 
shoulders,  and  pushed  him  down  upon  tho  floor,  and  gave 
him  several  severe  blows.  That,  after  this  he  direc  :^ed  the 
deponent  to  be  taken  to  a  small  square  building  niade  of 
hewn  logo,  without  any  light,  wherein  was  a  quantity  of 
human  excrement.  That,  after  being  a  short  time  in  this 
confinement,  the  stench  of  the  place,  and  the  bruises  he 
had  received,  made  this  deponent  conceive  that  if  he  were 
kept  there  much  longer  his  health  would  be  destroyed  :  and 
he  oftcred  to  Mr.  Tate,  an  overseer  at  Fort  William,  to 
work  for  a  year  without  wages  for  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, if  they  would  let  him  out.  That  the  said  Tate  came 
agam  to  the  deponent,  and  told  him  that  he  would  not  get 
out  by  serving  the  North- West  Company  for  one  year,  nor 
for  two  years ;  but  that  if  he  wished  to  be  set  at  liberty,  he 
must  enter  into  a  new  engagement  to  serve  them  for  three 
yean  longer.  That  this  deponent  refused  to  sign  any  such 
engagement  for  some  time,  hoping  to  induce  them  to  accept 
of  his  services  for  a  shorter  space  of  time  ;  but  at  length, 
after  having  been  kept  in  the  square  building  as  a  prisoner 
for  ten  days,  perceiving  his  health  much  impaired,  (which 
is  not  yet  recovered,)  and  being  told  that  he  should  be  put 
in  irons,  he  agreed  to  sign,  and  did  sign  an  engagement  to 
serve  the  North- West  Company  for  three  years  more,  and 
was  liberated  fi^m  confinement.  That  this  deponent  was 
frequently  adl^edand  desired,  from  the  time  he  was  first  in 
the  service  of  the  North- West  Company,  and  even  by 
•everal  of  the  partners,  to  take  a  Squaw  as  a  wife ;  but  as 


Lr*--~''^r'^       ri»»rr**r- 


(HN<*--*- . ' -AkWta.^^^^*^  f*^ - 


ifSfOU 


Amnnn, 


XCVII 


he  conceived  thia  was  wished  for,  for  the  purt)<>>iR  of  getting 
him  to  run  in  debt  to  the  North-Wcdt  Company,  he  had 
never  been  prevailed  upon  to  do  so. 

That  Hhortly  after  thii  depoueiu'i  hheration  from  con« 
finement,  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  arrived  in  Ihc  vicinity  of  Furt 
William.  That  the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company 
were  afterwards  arrested  under  warrants  from  the  Earl  of 
Selkirk.  That  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  did  not  immediately  after 
the  arrest  of  the  partners  take  poHsussion  of  Fort  William, 
but  allowed  the  partners  to  return  to  their  rooms  to  paHit 
(he  night.  That  this  deponent  himself  saw  the  said  partnei's 
during  the  night  busily  engaged  in  examining  papers,  of 
which  he  saw  them  burn  a  large  quantity.  That  during  the 
night  also,  a  great  number  of  guns  were  removed  from  the 
magazines,  in  which  they  were  kept  usually  at  Fort  Wil- 
liam ;  that  they  do  not  commonly  keep  loaded  guns  in  the 
magaxine  ;  but  that  the  guns  removed  from  thence  were 
found  loaded,  primed,  and  ready  for  use,  concealed  in  a 
hay>]oftat  Fort  William,  the  morning  following  the  arrest 
of  the  partners.  That  barrels  of  gunpowder  were  also  re- 
moved and  hidden  during  the  same  night. 

That  this  deponent  gave  immediate  informati6n  to  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk  of  these  proceedings,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  following  day  his  Lordship,  whose  men  had  been 
previously  encamped  in  an  open  space  of  ground  opposite 
the  fort,  came  and  took  possession  of  F'ort  William.  That 
this  deponent  heard  at  the  time  from  other  engages  of  the 
North-West  Company,  and  firmly  believes,  that  Ihc  objt;ct 
for  which  the  said  arms  and  ammunition  were  concealed, 
was  to  effect  the  rescue  of  the  partners  arrested,  and  to 
destroy  the  party  of  the  Earl  ot  Selkirk.  And  this  depo- 
nent further  upon  his  oath  declares,  that  he  firmly  believes, 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  violent  and  sanguinary  character 
of  the  partners  of  the  North  West  Company,  and  their  pre- 
vious proceedings,  that  neither  the  life  of  the  Earl  of  SeJ- 
kirk,  nor  the  lives  of  his  men,  would  have  been  safe,  had 
they  continued  encamped  without  the  fort,  but  that  they 
would  have  been  cut  off  and  massacred,  if  the  said  Earl  of 
Selkirk  had  not  immediately  taken  possession  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam. 

(Signed)  ALEXANDER  FRASER. 

Sworn  before  me,  this  6th  ^ 

day  of  March,  1817.  ''<- 

<Signed)  J.  M.  MONDELET,  J.  P. 


1 


o 


) 


^ 


jltj^li^A)m-ii(tSi'ikM«i  n 


ICVllI 


APPEItDIX. 


if 


m 


O 


W*9 


[N.N.  ] 

Declaration  of  F.  F.  Boucher. 

(Se«  Obtervations,  page  18S.) 

District  de  >     Examen  volontaire  de  Franf  ois  Fimiin  Boucher, 
Montreal.  )  accu8^,  sous  serment,  d'avoir,  le  dix-neuf  Juin  der- 
nier, tu^,  a  la  colonie  de  la  Riviere  Rouge,  vingt-un  honunes, 
au  nombre  des  quels  s'est  trouve  le  Gouvemeur  Sample. 

Dit  qu'il  n'a  tu^  qui-que-ce-soit ;  qu'il  fut  envoy^  quatre 

jours  auparavant  la  mort  dn  Gouverneur  Semple,  par  un  des 

aseoci^  de  la  Compngnie  du  Nord-Oue«t,  Mr.  Alexander  M' Do- 

ncll,  du  Portage  de  la  Prairie,  pour  porter  dea  vivres  a  I'en* 

droit  nomm^  la  Grenouillere,  environ  trois  lieues  plus  baa  que 

Fort  la  Fourche,  dans  la  Riviere  Rouge ;  que  lui  et  ses  com- 

pagnons,  pour  ^viter  d'etre  apperfus  des  Colons  de  la  Bale 

d'Hudson,  passer'jnt  dans  les  terres  a  distance  ^loign^e  du  Fj^rt 

de  la  Baie  d'Hud|Ouj/^ue  dans  la  voe  d'affoiblir  le  partr'de  la 

,-  Baie  d'ltudson,  le  Bols-Brulds  avoient  Toulu  emmener  avec 

i    eux,  des  colons  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson^^t  (assist^s  de  rexamin^ 

[    pdor'les  Interpreter  en  Ahglois)  ils  s'^toient  rendus  a  eux,  et 

\en  avoient  emmen^  un  ;  que  lorsqu'ils  procedoient  vers  la  Gre- 

^Bouillierej,  its  apper9urent  une  groupe  d'hommes,  composes  des 

^^v  gens  de  la  Coiupagnie  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson  ;  qu'alors  un  cer- 
tain nombre  d'hommes  au  service  de  la  Compagnie  du  Nord- 
Ouest,  nomm^s  Bois-Brules,  joignirent  I'examin^  et  ses  com- 
pagnons ;  que  ceux-ci,  crojrant  que  les  gens  de  la  Baie  d'Hud- 
son leur  en  vouloient,  (parcequ'en  s'avan^ant  sur  ceux  du 
Nord-Ouest,  ils  tenoieat  en  mains  leurs  fusils)  voulurent  tirer 
sur  eux,  mais  que  I'examin^  s'y  opposa  ;  qu'enfin  lui,  I'exami- 
n^,  s'avanca  seul  sur  le  parti  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson  pour  parler 
a  ceux  qui  le  composoient,  et  approcha  si  pres  du  Gouvemeur 
Semple,  que  cclui-ci  prit  les  rennes  de  la  bride  du  cheval  de 
Texamin^  ;  qu'ils  se  parlerent,  que  le  Gouvemeur  se  saisit  de 
la  crosse  du  fusil  de  I'examind,  et  ordonna  a  ses  gens  d'avancer ; 
i««)i^i  qne  ceux  ci  n'obeissant  pas,  et  I'cxamind  disant  que  s'ils  tiroient 

its  ^toient  tons  morts,  le  Gouverneur  Semple  leur  dit  qu'il  ne 
liilloit  pas  craindre,  qu'il  n'en  ^toit  pas  le  temps,  et  qu'il  falloit 
tirer  ;  qu'anssitot  I'examin^  a  entendu  le  rapport  de  deux  cou|>s 
de  fusils  tir^  par  les  gens  de  IS' Baie  d'Hudson  ;  qu'a  I'instant 
Texamind  s'est  pr^cipit^  de  son  cheval  a  terre,  tenant  cepen- 

^  dant  la  criniere  de  son  cheval,  et  que  le  cheval  effray^  I'a  ainsi 
traind  jusqu'a  distance  d'environ  une  port^e  de  fusil,  ou  il  est 
rest^  ;  que,  du  moment  qu'il  a  ^t^  ainsi  enlev^  par  son  cheval, 
le  feu  est  devenu  g^n^ral  entre  les  gens  du  Nord-Ouest  et  ceux 
de  la  Coidpagnji^  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson  ;  que  le  feu  a  ^te  commen- 
ce par  ceut^fe  la  Baie  d'Hudson  ;  que  les  hommes  au  servico 
du  Nord-Ouest  <^toient  au  nombre  de  soixante-quatre,  ou  envi- 
^      ron,  armes,  (tlont  (rente  au  commencement  du  feu)  rtiunis  d'u- 

' '    ,     bord  pour  prendre  le  Fort  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson  par  la  famine, 


-J 


'"*^V 


■  T.  :i:i,'. 


m  I  iTiTiMwBri" 


>V.;»il'  "l»'.'l"'    lilTOHIII'  , 


APPENDIX. 


XCIX 


Boucher, 
Juinder> 
hommes, 
iple. 

fi  quatre 
lar  un  des 
lerM' Do- 
es a  I'en' 
18  has  que 
:  868  com- 
e  la  Bale 
ie  du  Fj^rt  ' 
tarti'de  la 
sner  arec 
I'examin^ 
I  a  eux,  et 
srs  laGre- 
Dpos^s  des 
n  un  cer* 
du  Nord- 
ses  Gom- 
lie  d'Hud- 
'  ceux  du 
irent  tirer 
i,  Texami- 
}ur  parler 
}uverneur 
cheval  de 
i  eaisit  de 
'avancer ; 
lis  tiroient 
it  qu'il  ne 
u'il  falloit 
eux  coups 
^a  I'instant 
int  cepen- 
6  Ta  ainsi 
,  ou  il  est 
)n  cheval, 
ist  et  ceux 
commen- 
in  servicij 
ou  envi' 
•eunis  d'a- 
la  famine, 


il  ignore  par  qui,  mais  suppose  qu'ils  Tayoient  ^t^  par  lean 
chefs,  c'est-a-dire,  Mr.  M<Donell,  Mr.  Grant,  Antoine  Oule,  et 
Michel  Bourassa  ;  qu'il  a  entendu  toute-fois  Mr.  M'Donell  leur 
enjoindre  d'eviter  la  rencontre  des  gens  de  la  Bale  d'HudBon. 

Que,  le  feu  fini,  il  a  vu  un  Bois-Brul^,  nonun^  Vasseur.pres 
da  Gouvemeur  Semplei  alors  bless^  au  genou,  et  au  bras,  qui 
en  prenoit  soin,  et  qui  toujours  avoit  pris  sa  ceinture,  ses  pu- 
tolets,  sa  montre,  et  les  emporta  depuis. 

Qjiie  les  gens  de  la  Baie  d'Hudson  ^toient  au  nombre  d'envi- 
ron  trente,  et  qu'il  en  a  vu  une  quinzaine  de  tu4s ;  que  lui- 
m^met  I'examin^,  a  preserve  un,  nomm6  Pritchard.  d'etre  tu6, 
et  que  Fran9ois  Deschamps,  et  plusieurs  autres  Bois-Brulte, 
▼ouloient  le  tuer. 

L'examin^  a  declar^  ne  savoir  signer,  et  a  fait  sa  marqu^ 
d'une  croix,  lecture  faite. 

Reconnu,  par  devant  moi,  k  Montreal, 

"*'  .  le29d'Aoat,  1816. 

(Sign*)  J.  M.  MONDELET,  J.  P, 


^k 


[translation.]     /* 

District  ofl  Voluntary  Declaration  of  FranooiB  Firmin 
Montreal.  )  Boucher,  accused  on  oath  of  having,  on  the 
19th  of  last  June,  killed  at  the  colony  of  Red  River,  twen- 
^-one  men,  among  whom  was  Governor  Semple, — says, 
That  he  did  not  kill  any  person  whatever ;  that  he  was  sent, 
four  days  hefore  the  death  of  Governor  Semple,  by  one  of  | 
the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company,  Mr.  Alexander 
M'Donell,  from  the  Portage  de  la  Prairie,  to  carry  provi- 
sions to  Frog  Plain,  about  three  leagues  lower  than  the  fort 
at  the  Forks  of  Red  River.  That  he  and  his  companions, 
to  avoid  heing  seen  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  settlers,  passed  at 
a  distance  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  fort.  That,  with  the 
view  of  weakening  the  Hudson's  Bay  party,  the  Bois-Brules. 
wanted  to  carry  away  some  of  these  Hudson's  Bay  settlejps 
— and,  assisted  by  the  deponent  to  interpret  for  thetil  in 
English,  they  wentand  carried  oneofT. — That,  as  they  pro- 
ceeded towards  Frog  Plain,  they  observed  a  group  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  people, — upon  which  a  certain  number  of  the 
men  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company,  called 
Bois-Brules,  joined  the  deponent  and  his  companions. — 
That  these,  thinking  the  Hudson's  Bay  people  meant  them 
harm,  (because  they  advanced  with  their  nlTtiiltfts  in  their 
hands,)  the  Bois-Brules  wanted  to  fire  on  them ;  but  the 
deponent  opposed  their  doing  so.  That  at  last  he  advan- 
ced alone  tc  the  Hudson'?  Bay  party  to  spqak  to  them,  and 


«**»»i^ 


"»    * 


■;V 


iiwi-.' 


..II  Mimt 


-^^m^ 


m^\mm*'^^»w«'i*Wmm«m*'f'wm0 


■>»*>ni»«Ui»et»)»:- 


"liM   •' 


,'^  "^ 


Ititffe 


**v, 


Q 


O 

i**.^" 


I  f^ 


t  APPENDIX. 

came  so  near  Governor  Semple,  that  the  latter  took  hold 
of  the  reins  of  his  bridle.  That  they  talked  to  each  other  \ 
that  the  goremor  took  hold  of  the  butt-end  of  the  depo- 
nent^a  gun,  and  ordered  his  people  to  advance ;  that  they, 
not  obeying  him,  and  the  deponent  saving  that  if  they  fired 
they  were  all  dead  men.  Governor  Semple  said  that  they 
must  not  be  afraid,  that  this  was  not  a  time  for  it,  and  that 
they  must  fire.  Immediately  the  deponent  heard  the  re- 
port  of  two  muskets  fired  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  people. 
That  at  this  moment  the  deponent  threw  himself  from  his 
horse,  still  holding  the  mane ;  and  that  the  horse  being 
afraid,  draped  him  in  this  manner  about  the  distance  of  a 
gun-shot,  where  be  remained.  That,  from  the  moment 
when  he  was  thus  carried  away  by  his  horse,  the  firing  be> 
came  general  between  the  pec^le  of  the  North- West  and 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ;  that  the  fire  was  begun  by 
those  of  the  Hudson's  Bay.  That  the  men  in  the  service 
of  the  North- West  Company  were  about  sixty-four  in  num- 
ber, armed,  (of  whom  thirty  were  at  the  beginning  of  the 
firing,)  assembleckfor  the  purpose  of  taking  the  Hudson's 
Bay  fort  by  famine.  He  is  uncertain  by  whose  orders,  but 
supposes  K^  was  by  tlleir  chiefs,  that  is,  Mr.  M'Donell,  Mr. 
Grant,  Antoine  OuUe,  and  Michael  Bourassa.  That  he 
heard  Mr.  M'Donell  enioin  them  to  avoid  a  meeting  with 
the  Hudson's  Bay  people. 

That,  after  the  firing  was  over,  he  saw  a  Bois-Brute, 
named  Vasseur,  near  Governor  Semple,  then  wounded  in 
the  knee  and  the  arm,  who  was  taking  cfti^  of  him ;  and 
who,  notwithstanding,  had  taken  his  belt  or  iash,  his  pistols^ 
and  his  watch ;  and  afterwards  carried  them  away.  That 
the  Hudson's  Bay  people  were  about  thirty  in  number,  and 
that  he  had  seen  about  fifteen  of  them  killed.  Thai  he 
himaelf  had,  at  the  moment,  saved  one  Pritchard  from  be- 
faig  KHled ;  and  that  Francois  Deschamps,  and  several 
dtber  Brules,  wanted  to  kill  him. 

The  deponent,  having  decl|Md  he  could  not  sign  his 
name,  made  his  mark  of  a  ccosB',  after  this  was  read  over  to 
him. 

Declared  before  me,  at  Montreal, 
the29thof  August,  1816. 
(Signed)  J.  M.  MONDELET,  J.  P. 


r  I  Nis. 


\,^„    C 


w,^*^' 


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"X,,, 


4 


